Another Side, Another Story: Sunset
by Amor of Niam
Summary: Vanessa of Sapphire City is thrust into a world filled with challenges and trials unlike any she's known before, with only a key-shaped sword and her heart to guide her. What adventures will she face as meanders through the in between? Riku/OC/Roxas
1. The Key to Darkness

Author's Note: Hello my fellow writers, ghost readers, and the like! I, Amor of Niam, present to you my debuting saga, Another Side, Another Story! Here's book 1, Sunset, a story about a girl who has no choice but to follow her heart through a series of adventures, challenges, and love. I hope that we can all work together to make this story successful, so remember, read and review! Ciao 4 now, and on with the show!

Chapter 1: The Key to Darkness

"Vanessa!" shouted a boy as he ran to catch up with her. The girl known as Vanessa stopped walking and turned around. She had short, dark brown hair that fell to her shoulders in small braids. Each braid donned a string of silver beads. She also had vibrant, squinty purple eyes and skin as dark as the color of milk chocolate. She was not tall, nor was she short, around 5' 2". She was not thin, but not fat, average size in her own respect. Her limbs were strong; a tone of muscle could be noticed underneath the sleeves of her school uniform's white blouse and on the part of her legs that were not covered by her red knee-length skirt. She sighed and fiddled with the red tie around her neck as she watched the boy run up to her.

"What in the world do you want _this time_ Michael?" asked Vanessa in an exasperated tone. She had just packed away her books in her bag and was prepared to go home for the day, to disappear from sight until she was forced to return to school the next day. "I really want to go home!" The boy known as Michael stopped and panted as he tried to recapture his breath.

"Sorry…I was told…to tell you something…" said Michael between pants. He regained his composure. "The coach wanted me to let you know that…"

"Don't tell me I have to race this weekend." interrupted Vanessa. Michael grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head as Vanessa folded her arms and leaned back, a taut expression clear across her dark visage.

"_Well_…" he said. Vanessa threw up her hands in annoyance.

"God dammit!" she swore. "I hate it when the coach puts me in these races last minute!" She began to pace the empty hallway back and forth. "This is bull-sugar! He said I didn't _have_ to race, now I do? Which one is it dammit?" Michael shrugged.

"Sorry Nessa…" he said apologetically. "…but Vick sprained his ankle. We need a fill-in, and you're the best, and only according to the coach, we've got." Vanessa groaned.

"I hate you guys, you know that right?" she said. She shook her head. "How do you know I don't have _plans_ this weekend?" Despite himself, Michael burst out laughing.

"You? _Plans_?" he cried lightheartedly. He instantly stopped when Vanessa eyed him with a look that could have made a hardened criminal think twice. "Oops, sorry; but be real Nessa, you _never_ do anything." Vanessa stamped her foot in anger.

"Says _you_!" she shouted. She turned around and flicked her hand at Michael in a stand-offish way. "Whatever, I'll see you tomorrow morning." With that, she stormed down the hall to the outside. She shielded her eyes from the blinding effect of the sunlight reflecting off the tall city skyscraper for a moment until the sun disappeared behind the very same building.

"Tell _me_ I don't have plans…" she grumbled as she journeyed home. "Screw you Michael, you too Coach McLean!"

"Vanessa!" called a female voice, causing her to swiftly turn around. She smiled at the familiar face of the woman the voice originated from.

"Good afternoon Mrs. Marion!" she called back, waving. "What can I do you for?"

"Just wanted to wish you good luck on the race on Saturday!" Mrs. Marion called back. Vanessa's face grimaced, but she quickly covered it up with a broad smile.

"Thank you." she said. Not wanting to entertain the conversation further, she hunched up her slipping book-bag strap back onto her shoulder and continued on.

"Dammit!" she swore aloud. "Damn you coach, not only did you blind side me, you told everyone and their grandma about it so I couldn't refuse! That's crap!" She sighed as she climbed the steps of her apartment building. When she reached her floor, she unlocked her door. She stepped inside, tossed her book-bag to the side of the small living room and plopped on the couch. She rubbed her temples in an attempt to rid herself of her negative thoughts.

"It's just a race Nessa…" she said glumly. "…it's not like you're unprepared or anything…" She sighed. "I just wish _I_ could've been apart of the decision process here; they're _my_ legs after all." She slapped her thighs and rose to her feet.

"Oh well." she said and picked up her book-bag. "Homework time." She spilled its contents onto the dining room table. She sat down and got to work.

Three hours later, all of her homework was completed. Vanessa looked up at the clock on the wall. Six o'clock it read. She went into her room and removed her uniform. She neatly folded it and placed it on the steel chair next to her bed that she used as an end table, and opened her closet drawer. Inside, she picked out her running gear: black jogging pants, a white T-shirt, and a black jacket to match the pants. After putting it on and slipping on her sneakers, she wrote a note for her mother telling her that she was going out to run and headed out the door. She flew down the stairs and jogged out her building towards the park.

"That's right girl, make us proud!" shouted one of her neighbors that owned the corner store en route to her running path. "And be careful, it's late!" Vanessa smiled and waved.

"Thanks Mr. Smith!" she replied as she ran past. "And I will!" When she finally arrived at her destination, the local park's track, she burst into a sprint. Overhead, the sun began its descent into the red and purple horizon.

"Gotta remember to get home before eight." thought Vanessa to herself. "Don't want Mom to have another cow." She chuckled to herself at the thought. After circling the track for the third time, she picked up her pace. After 17 more laps, she stopped. Her breathing was harsh and her entire face was drenched with sweat.

"Ok…" she breathed. "…that's it; I'm done." After cooling down for several minutes, she journeyed through the dark back to her home. The full moon shone dimly in the ink-black, starless sky. Only the streetlights provided any source of light.

"It's freaking dark out here…" Vanessa mused. "…and quiet! Man, I hope I don't get jumped…" She laughed. "I guess I could always just _run away_!" As she walked, she did not notice the shadows amassing behind her. The streetlights started to flicker, catching her notice. She looked up and frowned.

"Stupid faulty lights…" Vanessa said aloud. "Who's a girl gotta bribe to get someone to fix some lights up in here?" She heard a noise. She swiftly turned around, but there was no one.

"Humph, now I'm _hearing_ things." she said. She sighed. "Girl, you better get your butt home before something bad happens to you; you know what happens in those horror movies." As she neared the park's exit, she noticed how deserted the area was.

"That's weird…" she mused aloud. "…where is everybody?" She stopped. "Something doesn't feel right about this." She heard the noise again, the same shuffling sound as if a creature were scuttling along the pavement.

"Whoever's there, you better not come out or else I'll open up a can of whoop-ass on your sorry behind!" Vanessa called out to an unknown source. Her eyes warily scanned the shadows. When nothing appeared, she continued on. Just as she did so, the same sound once again caused her to stop. This time, however, a pair of bright yellow eyes could be seen.

"What the…?" said Vanessa. The one pair became two, and then four, and then six. Six eyes stared back at her from the darkness. Vanessa stepped back, preparing herself to run if necessary.

"Who's there?" she called out. The eyes revealed themselves to be shadowy creatures that Vanessa had never seen before. They were small and looked like oversized ants, complete with antennae that twitched about.

"What the hell?" said Vanessa. The creatures began to sink into the ground, disappearing from sight. Instinctively, Vanessa looked down just in time to catch the creatures approaching her.

"Oh hell no!" she cried. She turned around and bolted. As she ran, she noticed more of the strange creatures appear from the shadows, as if they were everywhere. Vanessa ran faster.

"Come on girl, you're a track star!" she cried in her thoughts. "Run freaking faster!" Her legs obeyed. She almost lurched forward as she was forced to make an abrupt stop to avoid the creatures that had suddenly appeared in her path. She quickly changed direction and ran towards the interior of the seemingly deserted park. She stopped and frantically checked her surroundings. All around her, the creatures were morphing out of the ground. Panic began to rise within her.

"What the hell's going on?" she wondered fearfully. The creatures began to swarm around her, overwhelming her. They all jumped at her at once. Terrified, Vanessa covered her eyes with her arms and screamed, believing it to be her end. Suddenly, a flash of light burst forth, blinding her. She felt something appear in her hand. When the light dissipated, she quickly opened her eyes. She gasped and flinched at the object she now held in her hand. It was a giant key.

"What in the hell?" she said softly as she examined the strange object. "What is _this_?" She remembered the present danger and held off on her questions to watch her surroundings. She noticed that the creatures were watching her; not attacking, just watching.

"I don't know what the heck's going on but …" said Vanessa as she pointed her new weapon at the creatures. She pulled into an offensive stance with the key held firmly in her hands. "…I'm not going down without a fight!" Seeming to heed her challenge, the creatures rushed to attack her. Not having much fighting experience, she swung around the key wildly. Though sporadic, it proved to be a successful battle strategy as the creatures began to disappear in wisps of blackness. When the creatures where all gone, Vanessa grinned and sighed with relief.

"Vanessa 10, monsters 0!" she said triumphantly. She resumed the examination of the mysterious key. "What the heck _is_ this thing, and where did it come from?" Before she could answer these questions, more of the same creatures popped up, twice as many from before. Vanessa's eyes widened with horror. She was already fatigued from running; she could not go on much longer.

"I could use a miracle right about now!" she called out as the creatures advanced her. Suddenly, like divine intervention, a portal-like pool of blackness appeared. Wasting no time, Vanessa dashed into the black just as the creatures tried to swipe at her. She found herself in a dark and empty place. There was nothing around, just her. She was all alone in the bleak darkness of this strange place. It was cold. She shuddered and explored the new area.

"Hello?" she called. "Is anyone here?" She stumbled; she felt weak, as if her energy was being drained away. She faltered onto her knee, struggling to hold herself up with the key.

"Well, this sucks…" she muttered weakly as she collapsed flat on the ground. Her vision began to blur. Her grip around the key loosening was the last thing she knew before she slipped into unconsciousness.


	2. A New World

Author Note: Thank you so much for the reviews! I really appreciate it. I honestly didn't expect to get so many reviews for the first chapter, and I thank you all for being so kind. I _was_ gonna wait to upload the second chapter, but as a treat, I'm putting it out right now (2/18/10 11:40 PM EST)! Enjoy! Oh, and I almost forgot:

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts belongs to it's respective owners, Vanessa belongs to me.

Chapter 2: A New World

"Riku!" called Naminé as she watched the blindfolded sword-wielder open up a dark portal. Riku turned around to acknowledge the witch. "You should really rest." Riku frowned.

"Why do you care?" he said. "You don't have a heart." Naminé looked down.

"I may not have a heart…" she said. She looked back up. "…but I still know when someone is over doing it! You've trained for weeks non-stop! I know you want to be strong but…" She trailed off. Riku turned his back to her.

"I'll be fine Naminé…" he said. "…no need to worry about me." He disappeared into the portal and entered the Corridor of Darkness. As he journeyed through the lonely gloom of this sub-world, he sensed another presence besides his own. He summoned his sword and held it at the ready as he followed this particular scent. It was strong, but sedentary. As he drew closer, he could hear the faint heartbeat of another human being. Riku lifted his blindfold above his eyes and gasped. It was in fact another person that he sensed, a girl. She was lying about on the ground, motionless. It was not so much the girl that surprised him, but the object that she clutched loosely in her apparently unconscious state. Riku cautiously knelt beside the girl and examined the object.

"A Keyblade…" he concluded. "…but, how?" He looked over the girl's features. He furrowed his brows; he had never seen her, or anyone like her, before. In a wisp of light, the Keyblade disappeared.

"Who is this girl?" he mused. "Why does she have a Keyblade?" Deciding to put off these questions for now, he fitted his blindfold back over his eyes and lifted the girl into his arms. Her body was limp, her breathing shallow.

"The Darkness must've taken its toll on her." said Riku. "How long had she been here? How did she _get_ here for that matter?" Once again, he put off the questions and opened up a portal. When he reappeared, he was back in the mansion. There, he carried the girl down to DiZ, who was busy typing away at his computer. He turned around as he noticed Riku's presence, who laid the mysterious girl at his feet. DiZ furrowed his eyebrows questionably.

"You know Riku, kidnap is still a crime." he joked solemnly. Riku smirked.

"Very funny." he said dryly. "I found her in the Corridor of Darkness."

"A Nobody?" asked DiZ. Riku shook his head.

"A human." he replied. "And get this: She has a Keyblade." DiZ's eyes widened with shock.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Positive." said Riku. "I'd recognize it anywhere." DiZ turned around and pensively held his chin.

"Interesting…" he said. "And you're sure you do not know this girl?"

"Never seen her before a day in my life." said Riku. DiZ nodded.

"Well, it won't do to just leave her here on the floor." he said. "Take her up to one of the rooms. We shall interrogate her when she wakes up."

"_If_ she wakes up…" Riku muttered.

* * *

Vanessa bolted awake, screaming. She frantically checked her surroundings.

"You're awake." said a soft voice. Vanessa jumped. Her eyes darted to the voice's origin. It was a girl of pale blonde hair, even paler skin, and blue eyes clothed in a white dress. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to startle you." Vanessa readjusted herself on the bed that she sat up in.

"Wh-Where am I?" she asked. "And who are you?" The girl smiled.

"I'm Naminé." she replied. "As for where you are, you're in a secluded mansion just outside of Twilight Town." Vanessa scrunched her face in confusion.

"Huh?" she said. "What are you talking about? Twilight Town? Where the hell is that?"

"It's where you are." returned Naminé, unfazed by Vanessa's confused barrage of questions. "That's about as far as I can explain." Vanessa sighed and held her hand against her forehead.

"Aww man…" she complained. "…I got a freaking headache…"

"Do you remember what happened to you? Before you ended up here?" asked Naminé. Vanessa gasped.

"Those creatures!" she exclaimed. "I was jogging, and then I was attacked by these weird black creatures with yellow eyes! And then this key showed up…" Vanessa shook her head. "This probably sounds really stupid to you." Naminé shook her head as well.

"Not at all." she said. "I believe you. Why wouldn't I?" Vanessa smiled.

"Thanks." she said. "What'd you say your name was again?"

"Naminé." the pale skinned girl replied.

"I'm Vanessa." Vanessa replied. "Nessa for short."

"It's nice to meet you." said Naminé. "You were asleep for a long time; we thought you'd never wake up."

"How long?" asked Vanessa.

"Four days." replied Naminé. Vanessa faltered.

"_Four days_?" she cried. She held her panging stomach. "No _wonder_ I'm so freaking hungry…" Naminé giggled.

"If you're hungry, I could find you something to eat." she offered. Vanessa grinned.

"That'd be freaking awesome, thanks." she said gratefully. She frowned. "You said 'we' back there; who else is here?" Naminé gasped.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "I almost forgot; Master DiZ would like to speak with you." Vanessa furrowed her brows.

"Who?" she wondered. Naminé shook her head.

"You'll meet him soon." she said. "First, let's find you some food." Naminé disappeared behind the door of the room. Vanessa sighed and fell back on her bed.

"What the heck is going on?" she said aloud to the ceiling. "This is so confusing!" She climbed to her feet and poked her head out the door. She looked both ways down the hallway; the coast was clear. She stepped outside and walked the halls until she found the staircase. She descended it into the damaged foyer.

"What a freaking dump." she mused. "Why would that girl wanna live in a wooden piece of crap like this?" She kicked a splintered piece of wood out of her way. "Hey, free house. With a little interior decorating, this place has some real…"

"Looks like you're up." said another voice, a male's this time. Vanessa jumped in alarm and swiftly turned around. She was met by a young man who seemed to be the same age as her. He had long silver hair, slightly tanned skin, and a black blindfold covering his eyes. He donned a long black coat that was zipped up to the top. "Good to see you up and about; I thought the Darkness did you in for sure. Guess your heart's not as weak as I suspected." Vanessa folded her arms.

"What the hell are you going on about?" she asked. "Who are you?" The young man smirked.

"I'll tell you who I am…" he said. He frowned. "…after you tell me who you are and why you have a Keyblade." Vanessa made a confused face.

"What?" she said. "What the hell's a Keyblade?" She thought for a moment. "Oh, is that what you call that oversized key-thingy? A Key_blade_? So it's a sword?"

"Don't play dumb." said the mysterious, cloaked young man. Vanessa thrust her hands on her hips in upset.

"I'm _not_!" she countered. "I honestly have _no_ clue what's going on here. Care to enlighten me?" Before the young man could offer a rebuttal, Naminé came into the room with a tray of food in hand.

"Oh! Riku!" she exclaimed. "I didn't realize you were back."

"Riku? Is _that_ your name?" asked Vanessa.

"Why didn't you tell us that she was awake?" asked Riku, completely disregarding her question.

"She was hungry." answered Naminé. "I wanted her to at least have eaten first. Can't she?"

"Fine." said Riku. "But make sure she comes downstairs straight afterwards. We don't know who she is…" He glanced over at Vanessa. "…or if we can trust her." Vanessa faltered.

"H-Hey!" she stammered. "What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Once again ignoring her, Riku disappeared in a pool of black. Vanessa groaned. "What a jerk that guy is! What's his name? Rikko?"

"Riku." said Naminé. "Would you like to eat now? Your food's getting cold." With a grin, Vanessa complied and followed Naminé and her tray of food into a white room. It was furnished with a table and two chairs. As the décor, hand-drawn pictures covered the walls. Vanessa looked around at all the pictures.

"These drawings…" she said. Naminé set the tray down in front of Vanessa.

"I drew them." she said. Vanessa sat down and began to eat. She smiled; the food was good. Naminé sat quietly as Vanessa ate.

"You like to draw huh?" said Vanessa after she was half-way finished with her meal.

"It passes the time." replied Naminé. Vanessa nodded.

"I like to draw too." she revealed. "Well, paint really. I don't do it as often as I used to though."

"What do you like to paint?" asked Naminé.

"People, places, scenery, the usual." Vanessa replied. "But most of all, sunsets."

"Sunsets?" asked Naminé. Vanessa nodded as she swallowed the last of her food.

"Yeah." she said. "Sunsets are the most beautiful thing in the world to me. You can't take pictures of them and expect them to come out good, so I took to painting them. My room used to be filled with my sunset paintings."

"Used to?" asked Naminé. Vanessa smiled sadly.

"They all burned in a fire." she admitted. Naminé covered her mouth in shock and gasped.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "I'm so sorry!" Vanessa laughed.

"Don't sweat it." she said. "That was a long time ago; I got over it. I mean, between running track and school, plus the fact that I live in a city where it's almost _impossible_ to see the sun at a good angle unless I climb up on the roof, I've basically stopped doing it." She downed the last of the water that she had with her meal and burped. "Oof! Excuse me!" Naminé giggled.

"You're excused." she said.

"Well, I'm done." said Vanessa. "He said something about meeting them downstairs?"

"Right." said Naminé. "Are you ready to go now?" Vanessa nodded and stood to her feet.

"I'm ready to get some answers." she said.


	3. Strange Explanations

Author's Note: Hello everyone! Again, I'd like to thank all those who read my humble story. I've noticed that I don't really get reviews, but I do get the next best thing: favs! I'm glad you guys like the story that much, and believe me, I totally understand how much it sucks to sit down and write a measly review, even if you totally want to, lol! But anyway, thanks again! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts belongs to it's respective owners (Wikipedia them if you _must_ know exactly who), OC belongs to me (no wiking necessary, results may vary).

Chapter 3: Strange Explanations

Vanessa nervously followed Naminé through the old, abandoned mansion. What was in store for her when she met the one Naminé referred to as DiZ? She did not know.

"I hope they don't go all bad cop, crazy cop on me…" she thought. She studied her surroundings, formulating a possible means of escape, just in case. Naminé brought her into a room with a large wooden table. On the table was a peculiar drawing. She watched as Naminé pulled out a yellow crayon and completed the blank space in the picture.

"Stand back." Naminé instructed. Before Vanessa could ask, the floor beneath her began to glow. With a gasp, she ran to the space of the floor that did not glow, just in time to avoid falling through the gapping hole that had appear in the table's place.

"Holy kibbles 'n' bits!" exclaimed Vanessa in shock. "How'd you do that?" Naminé giggled.

"Magic." she said simply. "Come on." Naminé descended the stairs, Vanessa following close behind. Soon, they arrived in a large, plain white room. Towards the middle of the room was a man. As they approached him, Vanessa noticed that his entire face, save for his eyes and his dark, almost burnt-looking mouth, was wrapped in red bandages, and he wore peculiar red robes. Vanessa turned fearful. She gulped as she came face-to-mummified-face with this strange man.

"So, you have finally awaken." said the man in a powerful, authoritative voice. He glanced at Naminé. "Thank you Naminé, you may return to your work." With a nod, Naminé disappeared to do just that, leaving Vanessa alone. Vanessa tried hard to hide her body's apprehensive shivers, but in vain. The strange man noticed and chuckled.

"No need to be fearful my dear! I assure you, I do not bite." he said lightheartedly. "And if it is my outward appearance that frightens you, I do apologize." Vanessa instantly straightened up.

"Oh no! It's not that!" she said. "I'm just nervous and really confused." She sighed. "I don't know what's going on anymore…"

"Well, let us start with introductions." said the man. "You may call me DiZ."

"I'm Vanessa." she introduced. "Nessa for short."

"And where do come from Vanessa?" asked DiZ.

"Sapphire City." Vanessa replied.

"Hmm, I've never heard of that world before…" mused DiZ. "…but then again, I've never heard of many worlds." Vanessa furrowed her brows in confusion.

"Huh? Worlds?" she asked.

"There are hundreds, if not thousands, of different worlds that make up this universe." explained DiZ. "The world that we are in right now is called Twilight Town. These worlds do not know of each other's existence, but they all co-exist with one another. Which comes to the question: How did you come to be here?"

"Well…" began Vanessa. "…I was attacked by these black monsters, and then this key sword came out of no where, so I used it to fight them off. After that, more monsters showed up, and a shadow door-thingy popped up, so I used it to escape into this weird area that was dark and empty, I passed out, and then apparently woke up here four days later." She panted to catch her breath after rapidly telling her tale. She grimaced; the more she said it aloud, the crazier her story seemed. DiZ nodded.

"I see." he said.

"You believe me?" asked Vanessa.

"I do not see why you would need to lie." answered DiZ. Vanessa smiled.

"Oh, ok." she said, relieved. She frowned. "So, does any of the story make sense to you, 'cause it's _beyond_ me."

"Plenty." said DiZ. "The monsters that you fought are known as the Heartless, terrible creatures that embody the Darkness of people's hearts. They steal the hearts of others." Vanessa faltered.

"Th-They steal _hearts_?" she exclaimed in horror. "They were going to steal _my_ heart?" DiZ nodded.

"If given the chance, they most certainly would have." he replied. "This brings us to the second part of your story, the key-shaped sword. That, my dear, is called a Keyblade, a powerful weapon of Light. Only those with strong hearts are allowed to wield them." Vanessa scratched her head.

"Strong hearts huh?" she mused. "Well, I _do_ run a lot…" DiZ seemed confused for a moment, and then figured out what she meant. He laughed heartily.

"Oh no my dear, you are mistaken!" he said jovially. "That is not what I meant by 'strong'. Strong, as in possessing a large amount of Light. Or Darkness for that matter." Vanessa seemed wholly confused, but decided to put off on it for now.

"And the third part?" she asked.

"Corridors of Darkness." said DiZ. "That is where you ended up. It is exactly what the name implies, a passageway made entirely out of the Darkness. You have never been exposed to so much Darkness before, hence why you fainted. If Riku hadn't found you when he did, your heart would have been lost to the Realm of Darkness."

"Is that bad?' asked Vanessa. DiZ chuckled again.

"_Very_." he replied. "Speaking of which, Riku, you're here." Vanessa turned around. Sure enough, Riku, the strange, blindfolded young man in black, strolled up to them.

"That I am." he remarked. "What did she say?"

"Hello, I'm right here!" said Vanessa exasperatedly. "You could always, y'know, ask _me_ what _I_ said." Riku just disregarded her.

"Why does she have the Keyblade?" he asked DiZ. Vanessa threw up her arms in annoyed defeat.

"That I do not know." said DiZ. "And neither does she. Merely asking her will not tell us why. She does not know the nature of the weapon she possesses." Vanessa just folded her arms and withdrew from the conversation altogether.

"Can we trust her?" asked Riku.

"She doesn't seem to be a threat." said DiZ. "She is merely lost. You can rest easy; she will not slit your throat in the middle of the night." He laughed at his own joke. "Or perhaps, judging by the look on her face right now, she will!" Riku folded his arms; he did not appreciate the joke.

"Whatever." he deadpanned. DiZ regained his composure.

"Lighten up Riku." he said. "At any rate, we are finished here. Take her back to her room." Riku grunted and walked past Vanessa. Not knowing what to do, she just followed after him.

"Hey! Wait up!" she called after him. Riku did not reply. "I said wait a minute!" She tried to grab onto his shoulder, but he instinctively jerked away, causing Vanessa to fall flat on the ground. She angrily scrambled to her feet.

"Hey! What's the big idea?" she cried. "What's your problem?"

"Sorry." replied Riku. "Force of habit." Vanessa sighed.

"Whatever." she said. "Why've you been acting so cold towards me? Did I do something to you? I didn't hit you or anything while I was unconscious, did I?" Riku smirked.

"No." he replied.

"Then what is it?" asked Vanessa. "Does my breath kick or something?" Riku's smirk widened.

"As a matter of fact…" he joked. Vanessa grunted.

"Not funny!" she exclaimed. She turned her back to him and used her hand to smell her breath. She grimaced. It _did_ stink. "Damn…" Riku chuckled softly.

"Come on." he said. Vanessa obediently followed close behind him.

"So…" she said. "…is that guy, like, your father or something?"

"No." Riku replied. "He's just a man who's going to help me bring back my friend."

"Your friend?"

"His name is Sora. Like you, he wields a Keyblade."

"What happened to him?"

"He's sleeping."

"Uh… Ok?"

"As if he was in a coma."

"Oh! Snap, I'm sorry."

"It's ok." Awkward silence followed. When they arrived at her room, Vanessa sat on her bed. Riku turned to leave.

"Wait!" Vanessa called out to him. Riku stopped, but did not turn back around.

"What?" he replied.

"This Keyblade…" Vanessa began. She held out her hand and imagined that it was there. It appeared in her hand. "…why do I have it?" Riku shook his head.

"That's what I'm trying to find out." he said before disappearing behind the door. Vanessa sighed and inspected her key-shaped weapon.

"This must open some _huge_ lock." she joked aloud.

"Actually, it opens any lock." said Naminé's voice. Vanessa jumped up in alarm. The Keyblade disappeared in a wisp of light. She noticed Naminé at the doorway.

"I'm sorry." she apologized. "I didn't mean to frighten you." Vanessa sighed with relief and sat back down.

"God damn girl! You trying to give me a heart attack?" she joked. She laughed. "Don't mind me, I'm just so jittery lately; all of this is so…" She sighed again. "…strange." Naminé entered the room.

"This must be hard for you, being so far from your home and in a strange world." she said. Vanessa nodded.

"Yeah…" she said. She looked up. "So now what? What do I do now?" Naminé shook her head.

"I don't know." she admitted. "That is up to you. Whether you choose to follow the path of Darkness, or the path of Light, the choice is yours."

"Huh?" said Vanessa. "The path of Darkness and Light? I'm talking about how I'm supposed to get home!" Naminé giggled.

"I know." she said. "You said you like sunsets, right?"

"Yeah." answered Vanessa.

"Follow me." said Naminé. Vanessa rose to her feet and followed the pale girl until they reached the balcony outside on the top floor of the mansion. Vanessa gasped. Up over the trees, she saw one of the most beautiful views of a sunset she had ever seen. The shimmering red sun blazed brilliantly in the horizon. Vanessa's eyes watered with emotion.

"It's so beautiful." she said softly. Naminé noticed the tears.

"You're crying." she stated. Vanessa wiped the tears away and smiled.

"Not really." she said. "I always get a little emotional when I see something this spectacular. I guess you can call them tears of appreciation." Naminé seemed confused.

"Tears…of appreciation?" she wondered. Vanessa waved it off.

"Never mind it." she said. She turned her attention back to the sunset, contemplating what may be waiting for her tomorrow.


	4. The Awakening

Author's Note: Really people? Does reviewing take _that_ much time out of your busy reading schedules? Darn ghost readers... But anyway, I hope you all like chapter 4 as always (and in the assumption no one reads these little blurbs), you bunch of bastards... Lol. Enjoy! Oh, and before I forget:

Disclaimer: At the risk of being redundant, I do not own Kingdom Hearts or anything that has anything to do with it (except for a cheap, five-year late, used copy), but I _do_ own Vanessa (copyright of Amor of Niam, or would copyrighting a story that is _technically_ a copyright infringement be too bold?).

Chapter 4: The Awakening

Vanessa awoke in the middle of the night for reasons she did not yet understand. However, she was not in the bed of her new home. Instead, she was in a dark area, sitting on the ground. She quickly stood to her feet. When she did, the ground began to glow in radiant light. A sea of white doves soared around her. She covered her eyes with her arms and cried out. The doves flew harmlessly past her. She lowered her arms and noticed that she was standing on a huge, stained-glass portrait of a boy in a red jumpsuit, a Keyblade in hand.

"Is that Sora?" asked Vanessa. She looked around. There was no one there except for her. "Where am I?"

"Come forth, young key-bearer!" boomed a voice. Vanessa gasped and frantically searched for the origin of the voice, but found no one.

"Who's there?" she demanded.

"Come forth and choose your destiny!" said the booming voice. Seeing no other option, Vanessa reluctantly stepped forward onto the middle of the stained-glass floor. "Bearer of the Keyblade, you have been chosen to go forth on a journey unlike any you have known before. Your path, which ever one you may choose, will be perilous in its own respect. Choose wisely."

"I don't understand!" cried Vanessa. "What's going on?" Suddenly, three passageways appeared. One was bright white, one a sinister black, and another dull gray.

"Which path will you choose?" continued the voice. The path of Light?" The white path glowed. "The path of Darkness?" The black path glowed. "Or, the in between, the Twilight?" The gray path glowed as well. Vanessa stood frozen, confused on what she was supposed to do. "Choose."

"I-I don't know!" she cried indecisively. "How am I supposed to choose?"

"Follow your heart; it will guide you." said the voice. Vanessa placed her hand over her chest.

"My heart?" she repeated questionably. She closed her eyes and listened to the beat of her heart.

"I'm _definitely_ not doing the path of Darkness." she thought. "Then should I do the path of Light? Both sound too extreme for me…" She opened her eyes. Finally, she knew.

"I'm gonna take the middle road." she said aloud.

"Are you absolutely sure?" asked the voice. "Once you step through, there is no turning back. The world as you know it will be different. You will face challenges and dangers that you have never faced before." Even though she was frightened, Vanessa nodded her head definitively.

"I'm positive!" she said boldly. "I'm gonna take the in between."

"Step through, young wielder of the Keyblade." said the voice. "Your journey begins now." Automatically, Vanessa walked towards the gray path. When she stepped through, a light flashed, blinding her. When she regained her sight, she was no longer in the area of the stained-glass. Instead, she seemed to be in a large city. It was the middle of the night. Up in the sky, a heart-shaped moon glowed in pale light.

"Huh?" said Vanessa. "_Now_ where the heck am I?" The streets were extremely quiet. She walked along them in search of someone, anyone, to direct her.

"Hello!" she called out. Her voice echoed across the buildings. "Is anyone out here?" There was no reply. "Hello?" Still no reply. Vanessa sighed and looked at the moon.

"This is so freaking ridiculous!" she cried in frustration. "First, I wake up in an abandoned mansion in another world, then, I wake up on a talking stained-glass picture, and _then_, I end up in an uninhabited city in the middle of the night! Can this get _any_ stranger?" Suddenly, black creatures began to rise ahead of her. Her eyes widened with horror.

"H-Heartless!" she exclaimed, staggering back. But these were not the Heartless she fought in the park. No, _these_ Heartless where much different. Unlike the others, who could have been considered cute in a twisted way with their short plump bodies and short limbs, these creatures were much more sinister-looking. They were almost Vanessa's height, somewhat humanoid in appearance, and had sharp claws. They glared at her hungrily with their piercing yellow eyes.

"Me and my big mouth…" Vanessa muttered fearfully. She swallowed and summoned her Keyblade. At the sight of her weapon, the Heartless jumped at her. She swung around her key-shaped sword as if her life depended on it. She felled several, but these Heartless seemed to be smarter than their smaller counterparts. They saw through her unskillful, sporadic swinging and jumped at her at once. Vanessa quickly dodged them and ran as fast as her legs could carry her in the opposite direction. As agile as panthers, the Heartless followed in hot pursuit.

"Oh god, please don't let me die here!" she screamed in her thoughts as she ran down the deserted streets of this dark city. She turned down an alleyway that was being blocked by an overturned truck. Vanessa cursed herself for her folly. She looked over her shoulder; the Heartless were gaining on her. Desperate to save her self and running low on options, Vanessa secured her Keyblade on the belt-string of her pants and began to climb over the truck. When she reached the top, a Heartless jumped up and grabbed her foot. She screamed bloody murder and kicked it away. As it let her go, Vanessa fell over on the other side of the truck and onto the ground. She hit the ground hard and injured her arm, but she disregarded the pain and continued to run. Several Heartless appeared in her path, but she quickly dispatched them with a few swings of her Keyblade. Suddenly, a door of light appeared ahead, far away, but within reach. Her legs ached, her lungs burned, and her heart threatened to burst out of her chest, but she ran faster. The Heartless where so close behind her that she could hear their snarls in her ears. One clawed at the jacket of her jogging suit, but lost its grip as soon as Vanessa disappeared through the door.

Vanessa woke up screaming like a banshee. After emptying her lungs, she panted heavily and checked her surroundings. She was back in her bed in her room in the mansion. She had never been so relieved in her life.

"Oh my god…" she sighed with relief. "…I thought I was dead meat…" She checked her arm; it was fine, as if nothing happened to it.

"That was just a dream?" she wondered. "But, it felt so _real_!" Suddenly, Riku burst into her room, a sword drawn. Vanessa screamed again and jumped up in her bed.

"What the hell!" she cried. "What the hell is wrong with you, bursting up into my room guns blazing?"

"I heard you screaming." said Riku. "What happened?"

"Oh, uh, nightmare." Vanessa explained. Riku sighed and called away his weapon.

"That's it?" he said, obviously annoyed and somewhat disappointed. "I thought there was an actual _threat_. Don't call me if there's no danger; I'm trying to sleep too you know." Vanessa scowled.

"Hey, first of all, I didn't _call you_." she retorted. "Second, sorry if my nightmare isn't important enough to cause alarm!" Riku grunted.

"Whatever." he said. "Go back to bed; it's late." He left. Vanessa groaned.

"What a jerk…" she mumbled. She sighed and lay back down. She thought about the dream.

"That couldn't've been just a _dream_…" she thought. "…no dream is _that_ realistic. I could feel, hear, and see everything that was happening as plain as I'm doing it right now." She sighed once more and closed her eyes in an attempt to go back to sleep.

"So if it wasn't a dream, what was it?" she wondered before drifting off.


	5. The Keyblade Master

Author's Note: Yay I got another review woot! Thank you very much, all comments are appreciated. I don't really have much to say except, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts blah blah blah, and so on and so forth (but I own Vanessa).

Chapter 5: The Keyblade Master

"Good morning Vanessa." said Naminé's voice. Vanessa's eyes fluttered open. She yawned and stretched as she sat up in her bed.

"Morning Naminé." she said. She smiled; on her lap was a tray of food. "Breakfast in bed? How sweet!" Naminé giggled.

"I thought you'd like it." she said. She frowned. "I heard you screaming last night; was something wrong?" Vanessa shook her head and sighed.

"Man, I had the _weirdest_ 'dream' last night." she said, bunny-quoting the word "dream". "It was crazy."

"What happened?" asked Naminé.

"I was in this place with a talking stained-glass portrait of a boy in red with a Keyblade for the floor." said Vanessa. "I was told to choose between the paths of Darkness, Light, and Twilight, just like you said Naminé."

"Twilight?" asked Naminé. "That's a new one. What is that?"

"It's supposed to be the middle path." said Vanessa. "But anyway, I chose the middle road and when I did, I was transported to this city. It was dark and had a moon shaped like a heart."

"The Dark City!" Naminé exclaimed.

"That's what it's called?" Vanessa asked. She shrugged. "Fitting. Anyway, and then I was attack by all these Heartless. Just when I thought I was a goner, a door of light appeared and I woke up. Like I said, freaky dream. But the freaky part is, I don't think it was a dream."

"It wasn't." said Naminé. Vanessa flinched.

"I-It wasn't?" she exclaimed. Naminé shook her head. "How do you know?"

"Because Sora went through the same thing." said Naminé. "His awakening." Vanessa furrowed her brows.

"Awakening?" she repeated. She shook her head again. "Everyday, things just get weirder and weirder." She turned thoughtful. "That boy in red… That was Sora right?"

"Yes." said Naminé. "The Keyblade master."

"Keyblade…master?" said Vanessa in confusion. "Who _is_ he?"

"He is the savior of the worlds." said Naminé.

"Riku told me that he was comatose…" said Vanessa. "…is this true?" Naminé looked away.

"Yes." she admitted. "It's my job to make sure he wakes up."

"What happened to him?"

"Several weeks ago, the chains of his memories were broken and rearranged. Many of his most precious memories were stripped away or distorted. To fix this, I put him to sleep so that I could piece together his memories back to the way they were."

"You can do this?"

"I have power over Sora's memories, and all those connected to his heart. I don't know why I have this power, or if there's a right way to use it. I just do."

"So Sora can't wake up until his memories are restored?"

"And until he joins with his other half."

"His…other half?"

"His Nobody, Roxas."

"Huh? Ok, now you've lost me. What's a Nobody? Who's Roxas?"

"None of your business." Vanessa and Naminé gasped and looked towards the door where the voice originated from. It was Riku. "Naminé, you've said enough."

"Riku…" said Naminé softly. "…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to tell her."

"Tell me what?" asked Vanessa. "What's going on?"

"You know too much." said Riku. "You didn't have a right to know." Vanessa glowered at Riku.

"Well _excuse_ me!" she said angrily. "Forgive me for wondering what the hell is going on around me!" She sighed. "Look, whatever ok? I just don't want to be in the dark. No need to get upset. I just have one request."

"What?" asked Riku.

"I wanna meet Sora." said Vanessa. Riku faltered, but only slightly.

"No." he deadpanned.

"And why not?" countered Vanessa.

"You don't need to." Riku tossed back.

"You don't know _what_ I need!" Vanessa retorted. "But I definitely know what _you_ do!"

"And what's that?" Riku sneered.

"A freaking _slap_, that's what!" Vanessa cried. Riku said nothing. Naminé just looked down, not wanting to create a bigger mess than the one she already caused.

"You can't meet him." Riku said finally. "DiZ won't let you." Vanessa folded her arms.

"See? That was all you had to say." she said. She rose to her feet. "Come on Naminé."

"Huh? Where are we going?" Naminé asked.

"We're gonna go ask DiZ if I can see Sora…" said Vanessa as she put on her jacket. "…I'll need you to put in a good word for me." Riku gritted his teeth.

"I said no!" he cried, losing his cool. Vanessa smirked.

"Last time I checked, you're not DiZ." she sneered. She tried to leave her room, but Riku blocked her path. "Excuse me."

"I won't let you see him." said Riku threateningly. "Not the way he is now." A tiny trace of regret could be detected in his voice, causing Vanessa to soften her approach.

"Riku…" she said. "…please. I need to see him. I don't know why but…" She placed a hand over her heart. "…it's what my heart's telling me to do." The two stood there for a long while. "Please Riku." Finally, with a sigh, Riku relented and moved from the door.

"I'll take you." he said. "Follow me." Vanessa and Naminé followed him down the stairs back into the plain white room. When they arrived, a blue pod-like vessel began to rise from the ground. It opened up, revealing the mysterious Sora. Just like the stained-glass portrait of him, he wore a red jumpsuit with a blue jacket, only in person it seemed to be too small. He had sandy-blond hair. His eyes were closed shut.

"That's Sora?" asked Vanessa.

"Yes." said Naminé. Vanessa stared at the sleeping boy. Something compelled her to draw closer. Riku cautiously watched her as she stepped up to Sora's pod.

"Sora…" Vanessa whispered. She closed her eyes and placed her hand on the smooth glass.

"_So you're Sora, the Keyblade master?_"

"_Yeah, that's me!_ _I've never heard your voice before; who are you?_"

"_V-Vanessa_."

"_Vanessa huh? Nice to meet you!_"

Vanessa cried out and jumped away from the glass. She held her head; it was in pain.

"Vanessa!" cried Naminé. She rushed up to the suffering girl. "Are you ok?" Vanessa swallowed and smiled.

"Yeah, don't sweat it." she said. She looked back at Sora. "So that's him huh?"

"Yup, that's him." said Riku. "Are you done yet?" Vanessa rolled her eyes.

"Yeah yeah, I'm done." she gave in. "Don't have a conniption fit." Riku chose not to respond to that.

"Let's go." he said instead.

"I'll stay and continue my work." said Naminé. "Go on without me." Riku nodded to her and led Vanessa out of the room.

"So…" said Vanessa as she followed Riku into the foyer. "…what do you guys do for fun around here?"

"Fun?" said Riku. "Nothing." Vanessa gasped.

"What? _Nothing_!" she cried. "Oh come on man, you're breaking my heart! I'm _bored_!" Riku smirked.

"Then why don't you go out?" he suggested. Vanessa faltered.

"W-Wait, I can _leave_?" she asked. Riku nodded.

"Why not?" he said. Vanessa shrugged.

"I dunno, I thought y'all wanted me to stay put…" she said. "…y'know, so I won't run away." Riku chuckled.

"There's no need to worry about that." said Riku. He smirked. "There's no where for you to run _to_." Vanessa folded her arms.

"Oh whatever!" she said, slightly annoyed. She took a step towards the door. "Ok, I'm gonna leave."

"Bye." said Riku.

"DiZ won't mind?"

"Nope."

"You _sure_ I can go?"

"Yes Vanessa, you can go."

"And I won't get in trouble right?"

"Are you gonna go or not? You're wasting my time." Vanessa threw up her arms in her defense.

"Alright, damn!" she exclaimed. "I'm going! Jeez, what's up your butt?" Riku grunted and disappeared in the Darkness. Vanessa just rolled her eyes and stepped outside into the clearing. Ahead of her was nothing but forest.

"Oh god dammit!" she cried. "No _wonder_ he didn't care; there's no where to go!" She kicked a rock in frustration. "This is bull-sugar! Twilight _Town_ my butt!" She sighed and headed into the forest.

"Might as well explore it; I've got nothing _better_ to do…" she complained. As she was walking, she heard voices. She stopped. The voices drew closer. She hid behind a tall tree as two figures approached her area.

"Is this where the target's supposed to be?" asked one of the figures. He seemed to be Vanessa's height, had spiky, sandy-blond hair and bright blue eyes.

"Just like Sora…" mused Vanessa. The figure next to him was the total opposite. He was extremely tall and thin, had crazy, flaming red hair and vibrant aqua eyes. Both wore the exact same black coat that Riku did.

"Friends of Riku?" Vanessa thought.

"Not sure." said the tall one. "The intel-report said that it liked to be invisible most of the time, so we'll have a pretty tough time finding it regardless." The short one sighed.

"Always gotta be a catch…" he muttered. The tall one laughed.

"Cheer up Roxas!" he said. "We'll be done in no time! We just gotta keep our eyes peeled, got it memorized?" Vanessa's eyes widened.

"Roxas?" she thought. "Naminé mentioned a Roxas… What did she say he was, a Nobody? Unless she was trying to be mean, which I doubt very highly, what's a Nobody?" They drew closer to her hiding spot. She tensed up.

"Whatever you say Axel." said the one known as Roxas. "Well, it doesn't seem to be here. Let's check the underground station." The two guys walked away in the opposite direction until they were out of sight. Vanessa sighed with relief and ran back to the mansion.

"What was _that_ about?" she said aloud as she pushed open the gate.


	6. Showdown At Sundown

Author's Note (assuming you read these things, _I _sure as hell don't): I'm terrible sorry for waiting so long to update. It's not that I didn't want to, or didn't have the chapter finished (this story is actually finished, I'm just making you bastards wait as punishment for your insolence!), I was just really, _really_, REALLY sick. But don't worry, not even illness will bring this story down! So here you are, chapter six, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own Kingdom Hearts not. But Vanessa I do. And if you don't know who Vanessa, fuck you you skimmer-bastards!

Chapter 6: Showdown At Sundown

"_You know, Riku has changed."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Well..."_

"_You okay?"_

"_Sora! Let's take the raft and go; just the two of us!"_

"_Huh?"_

"_Just kidding!"_

"_What's gotten into you? You're the one that's changed Kairi."_

"_Maybe... You know, I was a little afraid at first, but now I'm ready. No matter where I go or what I see, I know I can always come back here. Right?"_

"_Yeah, of course."_

"_That's good. Sora, don't ever change."_

"_Huh?"_

"_I just can't wait. Once we set sail, it'll be great."_

Vanessa woke up with a start. She held her head and groaned.

"What a weird dream…" she said. "…and that girl… Kairi, I think her name was. Who is she?" She yawned and climbed out of bed. After completing all the activities in her morning routine, such as bathing and getting dressed, she set off for the outside.

"I know there's a town here." she said. "I'm not coming back until I find it! Speaking of which…" She noticed Riku in the foyer. "Riku!" The blindfolded young man looked up. "Morning!"

"Morning." he said. He smirked. "Have any good nightmares lately?" Vanessa smirked as well.

"Haw haw! That was so funny I almost forgot to laugh!" she said sarcastically. "But no, no nightmares this time. Just a mere dream."

"Oh really?" said Riku with indifference. "What about?"

"None ya." said Vanessa.

"Fair enough." said Riku. "How was your little _adventure_ yesterday?"

"To be perfectly honest, it was _interesting_." said Vanessa. "I meant to tell you yesterday, but I couldn't find you or DiZ. I saw these two guys. They both wore the same coat that you wear." Riku perked up in interest.

"Oh?" he said. "What did they look like?"

"Well, their names were Axel and Roxas, if I can recall…" said Vanessa. Riku flinched.

"Did you say _Roxas_?" he asked.

"Yeah." said Vanessa. "So you _do_ know them." Riku hurried past her. "Yeah, so, I'm gonna go out again today! Is that ok?" Riku did not reply. He disappeared into another room. "Right. I'll take that as a yes." Vanessa zipped up her jacket and headed out the door.

"Twilight Town, here I come!" she cried. She journeyed through the heavily wooded forest.

"Man, I hope I don't get lost." she mused. "That would definitely _suck_." Fortunately for her, she successfully made it through the forest and found her way to the large hole in the wall that led to the town. Her eyes widened as a smile appeared on her dark face. She had finally arrived in Twilight Town. She walked around like a wide-eyed tourist, taking in the sights.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed. "This sure beats staying at home all day!" A honking sound caused her to jump. It was a tram car. She noticed that she was in its path.

"Oops, sorry!" she called as she stepped out of the way. As it prepared to leave, Vanessa hopped onto it at the last minute and rode it around the town. She saw many people going on about their business, completely oblivious to Vanessa as she spied them. When she had enough of the downtown area, Vanessa hopped off the tram and made her way up a hill to another section of the town, a large clearing that looked a lot like a park.

"Hmm, I wonder what this is." she mused as she walked to the center of the area. "Really wish I had a map right about now…"

"Hey! Who are you?" shouted a voice. Vanessa jumped and turned around. Ahead of her were four kids, three of which seemed to be closer to her age, one much younger. The one who spoke strolled up to Vanessa and folded his muscular arms. He wore baggy pants, a vest that showed off his abs, a white jacket that hung to the floor, and a knitted cap on his head. Vanessa said nothing. "What are you, deaf? I asked you a question!"

"That you did." said Vanessa coolly. "The thing is, I don't answer to jerks."

"Hey! You better take that back, y'know!" shouted another boy. He was very muscular with tan skin and dark hair.

"Rude." said a girl with pale blue hair and squinty purple eyes. Vanessa folded her arms.

"Look, I'm new here and I don't want any trouble." she said.

"Well you got trouble!" said the boy with the cap. "As the Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee, it's our responsibility to investigate all suspicious characters, which includes you!" Vanessa raised her eyebrow.

"Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee?" she repeated. She laughed tersely. "Ch'yeah. Well anyway, I'm Vanessa. Nessa for short."

"Is that so?" said the boy with the cap. "Well I'm Seifer, that's Rai, Fuu, and this is Vivi." Vivi, the short kid with the over-sized hat, waved up at Vanessa.

"Hi!" he said. Vanessa smiled and waved back.

"It's nice to see _someone_ has manners up in here." she said. "This is no way to treat a newcomer. I'm just here minding my own business, and then you guys come and heckle me for no reason. Disciplinary committee my butt. More like a group of _bullies_." Seifer laughed.

"Oh, so you think you got jokes huh?" he said. "Fine." He looked over his shoulder. "Fuu." The girl stepped up and got into a fighter's stance.

"Bad choice of words." she deadpanned. Vanessa staggered back.

"Wh-Whoa!" she said, throwing up her hands in her defense. "I told you, I don't want no trouble! I just wanted to explore a little!"

"Like Seifer said, you got trouble, y'know!" said Rai.

"Well then to hell with this!" said Vanessa and took off.

"Hey!" shouted Seifer behind her. "Get back here!" They tried to chase her, but Vanessa was too fast for them. Soon, they were eating her dust. Vanessa stopped running and laughed. They had long since given up on chasing her, so it seemed.

"Losers." she said. She looked around. She noticed that she was in front of a large building with a clock tower up ahead.

"I wonder what this is?" she wondered. Through the glass doors of the building, she could see trains. "Must be a station." She looked up at the clock tower. She gasped.

"It's them!" she exclaimed in her mind. Sure enough, the cloaked figures from before, Axel and Roxas, were sitting on top of the tower. Before she had time to react further, her assailants from before caught up to her.

"There you are!" called Seifer. "Thought you could get away huh? Ha! This is _our_ town! Where ever you try to run, we'll find you!"

"What do you _want_ from my life?" she exclaimed, rather annoyed. "I never did a _thing_ to you!"

"Ran from a fight, very cowardly." said Fuu.

"Yeah! We don't like cowards, y'know." said Rai. Vanessa clenched her fists.

"Dammit…" she thought. She looked around; there was no where for her to go. "…trapped."

"Thinking about running off again?" teased Seifer. He laughed. "Think again!" Fuu once again stepped up and got into an offensive stance.

"Go time." she said. She rushed to attack Vanessa with a flurry of punches. Vanessa narrowly dodged them all except for one, which caught her on the shoulder. She staggered back in pain and held her injured shoulder.

"Damn girl! You hit hard!" Vanessa cried, somewhat surprised. Fuu just smirked and attacked again. This time, Vanessa blocked Fuu's punches. Her cross-guard blocked an incoming kick delivered by the emotionless girl, but Vanessa miscalculated its strength and was sent falling backwards.

"Had enough?" asked Fuu. Vanessa scrambled to her feet. She glared at Seifer and his posse.

"Leave me the hell alone!" she shouted. "What do you want from me?"

"Just beg for us to stop, and we will." Seifer sneered. Vanessa growled.

"Up yours jerk-wad!" she cried. "And by the way, nice hat! Did grandma knit that for you, or was there a sale at a flea market?" Seifer growled as well.

"I _was _gonna go easy on ya, but now, forget it!" he shouted. "Fuu, throttle her!" Fuu nodded and rushed to attack again. She successfully landed a kick into Vanessa's abdomen and followed up with a swift uppercut to her chin, knocking her back. Vanessa slid on her back across the ground. When she stopped, she laid there, dazed.

"God dammit!" she thought. She struggled to her feet; her body was sore. She stared Fuu down. "If I don't think of something quick, I'm dead meat!"

"She's a goner." said Axel as he watched the on-going fight between Vanessa and Fuu from his spot on the clock tower roof. He shook his head. "Poor girl." Roxas watched as well.

"Shouldn't we help?" he asked.

"No can do." said Axel. "Remember what Saïx said, we can't get involved with the affairs of other worlds." Roxas sighed and watched Fuu kick Vanessa in the chest.

"I know." he said. Vanessa staggered to her feet.

"That's it!" she shouted. She held out her hand. In a flash of light, her Keyblade appeared. "I'm sick and tired of you!" Roxas gasped.

"Is that…?" said Axel.

"A Keyblade!" cried Roxas. "But how?"

"Cheating." said Fuu. Vanessa pulled into an offensive stance, her Keyblade at the ready.

"Picking on a defenseless visitor is considered cheating!" she retorted. "Guess we're even!" Fuu looked like she was about to comment, but stopped. Her eyes widened slightly.

"Seifer!" cried Vivi.

"Uh oh!" said Rai. "Let's get outta here, y'know!"

"Fuu, let's go!" commanded Seifer.

"Have fun." said Fuu before rushing off with her crew. Vanessa straightened up and grinned.

"Yeah that's right!" she called after the gang's retreating form. "You _better_ run!" She twirled her Keyblade around and struck a pose. "Don't be messin' with the mighty Keyblade warrior!" A noise caused her to turn around. She gasped. Behind her was a decent-sized swarm of Heartless.

"Oh crap!" Vanessa cried. She held her weapon defensively. "I know my luck ain't _that_ bad!"

"Uh oh, looks like she's in trouble." said Axel, quite amused.

"We should help." said Roxas. Axel was about to protest, but the look in Roxas's eyes told him otherwise.

"Alright…" he relented. "…but remember, in and out." Roxas nodded and disappeared from the clock tower using the Darkness. He reappeared in front of Vanessa. She gasped.

"Roxas!" she exclaimed in her head. Roxas summoned his own Keyblade and rushed off to attack the Heartless. Vanessa stared in awe as she watched him dispatch the crowd in no time at all with the skill and agility of an expert swordsman.

"He has a Keyblade too?" she thought. When he was finished, Roxas called away his weapon and stood up straight, his back turned to Vanessa.

"Be more careful, alright?" he said as he faded into the Darkness. Vanessa flinched.

"Hey! Wait!" she called out. She tried to run up to him, but Roxas was already gone.

"Don't go…" she said softly as she stood there, alone.


	7. The Dropping of Eaves

Author's Note: Hello again! I'd just like to once again thank you all for the support. Also, I wanted to address something about my OC. I tried to make her as least a Mary-Sue as humanly possible (I'll be damned if you consider her one!), and I tried to have the characters react to her as I feel they would by matching their canonical personalities as close as possible. Now, I'm sure if I hit the hammer on the head, considering I've only played KH2 (and I'm still getting my ass kicked by Demyx). I've yet to play KH1 (it's collecting dust on my dresser). But I played 358/2 Days, so I'm basing my story loosely around that, something you'll come to notice in the future. But I'm rambling, enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: Seriously?

Chapter 7: The Dropping of Eaves

Naminé was walking down the halls of the deserted mansion and minding her own business when she was abruptly grabbed by the arm. She cried out as she was pulled into a nearby room.

"What's happening?" she exclaimed. Vanessa, the one who pulled her, shushed her and cautiously looked out the door. When the coast was clear, she closed the door and locked it.

"Ok…" she whispered. "…I want you to tell me everything you know about Roxas." Naminé gasped.

"B-But why?" she asked.

"I saw him yesterday." said Vanessa. "He saved me." Naminé gasped again.

"You _saw_ him?" she exclaimed. Vanessa shushed her again.

"Not so loud!" she whispered sharply. "But yeah, I did."

"Was he with a red-haired man named Axel?" asked Naminé.

"Yeah." Vanessa replied. Naminé looked down.

"I figured as much." she said. She looked back up. "Ok, I'll tell you. Those two, they're Nobodies, beings without hearts."

"So they're Heartless?" asked Vanessa. Naminé shook her head.

"Nobodies are the bodies that are left behind when a Heartless steals a person's heart." Naminé explained. "The soul takes on a will of its own, and a Nobody is born." Vanessa faltered.

"So they're walking around with literally _no_ hearts?" she exclaimed. Naminé nodded. "Whoa…"

"Since Nobodies have no hearts, they are only half-persons." said Naminé. "They are not supposed to exist, and yet, they still do. Without hearts, we can't feel."

"You said we." Vanessa pointed out. Naminé flinched. "You're one of them, aren't you? A Nobody?" Naminé looked away.

"I'm sorry…" she said. "…I didn't mean to hide it from you." Vanessa smiled and placed a hand on Naminé's shoulder, causing her to look up.

"That's ok." said Vanessa. "I don't care if you don't have a heart. You've been nicer to me then most people who _have_ hearts ever had. If it weren't for you, I don't know _what_ I would've done in this house by myself!" Naminé smiled.

"Thank you." said Naminé. "If I had a heart, that would mean a lot to me."

"Hey wait a minute…" said Vanessa, changing the subject. "…so if Roxas is Sora's Nobody, how is that possible? If a Nobody is the body of a person whose heart was stolen from them, how does that work between him and Sora?"

"Roxas is a special case. When Sora was turned into a Heartless, Roxas was created, but Sora turned back to normal because of the Light in Kairi's heart."

"Kairi…who is she?"

"She's Sora's friend, a very good friend of his."

"I see. So back to Roxas, you said that he holds half of Sora's power?"

"Yes. He can also wield the Keyblade."

"Does he know about all this? About Sora I mean?"

"No. And we try to keep it that way."

"Why?"

"In the end, Roxas will have to give back Sora's power."

"You mean sacrifice himself to Sora?"

"Yes."

"Sounds kinda harsh don't ya think?"

"I wouldn't know."

"Oh bull-sugar Naminé! You don't need a heart to know that that's kinda messed up! And Roxas doesn't even _know_ about this! Someone should at least tell him…"

"No! He can't know! Please Vanessa, don't see him anymore. If he discovers us…"

"Don't worry Naminé! My lips are sealed." Naminé sighed with relief. "But anyway, who's that other Nobody he hangs around, Axel?"

"He's Roxas's best friend." said Naminé. "The two of them belong to a group called Organization XIII."

"Organization XIII?" asked Vanessa. "What's that?"

"It was a group of thirteen powerful Nobodies whose purpose is to use Kingdom Hearts to restore their hearts." Naminé explained. "There are only eight of them left, since five of them were eliminated."

"Ok, you lost me at 'Kingdom Hearts'." said Vanessa. "What the heck is that?"

"Remember that heart-shaped moon that you saw in the Dark City?"

"Yeah."

"That's Kingdom Hearts. It's the ultimate source of power created by hearts."

"Huh? Created by hearts? The hearts of _people_?"

"Yes. Every time the Keyblade defeats a Heartless, the heart that it stole from another person becomes apart of Kingdom Hearts. The Organization is using Roxas's Keyblade to achieve its ultimate goal."

"But that's horrible!"

"Perhaps. It all depends on from whose perspective you see it from. But Sora thought so too, so he tried to fight the Organization at this place called Castle Oblivion, where they used me to manipulate Sora's memories in an attempt to control him."

"You used to be apart of Organization XIII?"

"Not exactly. I wasn't a member; they just used my abilities. Towards the end, I felt bad about what I was doing to Sora, so I escaped with DiZ. I've been working to clean up my mess ever since." Vanessa smiled.

"For someone who doesn't have a heart, you sure have some nice principles." she said. Naminé smiled.

"Thank you." she said. "I hope all this information helped." Vanessa nodded.

"_Plenty_, thanks much." she said. "I mean, all this still doesn't tell me why I'm here or why I have the Keyblade, but at least I'm not so much in the dark any more. I guess now I'm truly in between. I _thought_ I was making a good choice!" Naminé giggled.

"Hopefully." she said. "Are you going back into Twilight Town today?" Vanessa shook her head.

"Nah." she said. "I had enough adventure to last a lifetime yesterday."

"That reminds me…" said Naminé. "…you said Roxas saved you. From what?"

"What else? Heartless." replied Vanessa. "But it was so funny! I was walking through town, minding my own business, when all of a sudden, a group of thugs who called themselves the Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee showed up and stared harassing me, so I ran away. Unfortunately, they caught up to me and started to beat the crap out of me, so I summoned my Keyblade. I was _about_ to open up a can of whoop-ass on their stupid behinds, but a swarm of Heartless started to attack me. The thugs ran away, the cowards… Anyway, I took out a few, but there were way too many, so Roxas, I guess taking pity on me or _something_, who knows, took the rest out for me. He disappeared before I could talk to him though."

"Wait, you _used_ the Keyblade?" asked Naminé.

"Yeah." said Vanessa. "Why? Was that bad?"

"Vanessa! You drew attention to yourself!" exclaimed Naminé. "Now the Organization knows that there's another Keyblade bearer out there!" Vanessa gulped.

"Oh god dammit!" she exclaimed. "This would've been nice to know _beforehand_!" Naminé shook her head.

"I know…" she said. "…I'm sorry. But it can't be helped now. "You'll need to watch your back from now on, and try not to use the Keyblade in public anymore." Vanessa nodded.

"Ok." she said. She sighed. "Life just gets more and more complicated everyday…"

Just outside the locked door, Riku narrowed his eyes beneath his blindfold and quietly slipped away.

* * *

Vanessa sighed as she leaned on the banister of the balcony outside. She allowed her mind to wander with memories of her home as she watched the sun set into the red horizon.

"I wonder how Mom's doing?" she thought glumly. "I wish I could tell her I'm ok…" Suddenly, Riku appeared from a pool of Darkness. Vanessa turned around to acknowledge him.

"'Sup Riku?" she greeted.

"DiZ wants to see you in the foyer." he said. He disappeared. Vanessa sighed and made her way to the foyer. She did not see DiZ very often, so it was a bit of a surprise when Riku told her that he wanted to see her.

"I wonder what for?" she thought. When she arrived, DiZ was standing near the glass window underneath the staircase. Riku stood by near the wall.

"I'm here." said Vanessa, announcing her attendance.

"You used the Keyblade in the presence of the Organization." said DiZ. "Do you not understand the consequences of your recklessness?" Vanessa flinched.

"I-I…" she stammered. "…h-how did you know?"

"I overheard your little conversation with Naminé." said Riku. "You just don't know how to keep to yourself, do you?" Vanessa growled at him.

"You bastard!" she cried. "You eavesdropping bastard!"

"Let us stick to the point if you please." interrupted DiZ. "The Organization now knows of your existence. I've not a doubt in my mind that they will try to acquire you and use you to do their bidding."

"But why would they want _me_?" asked Vanessa. "I can't even fight that well!"

"That is completely irrelevant." said DiZ. "You possess a Keyblade; that is all they need."

"But I'm not a Nobody!" Vanessa argued.

"Again, irrelevant." countered DiZ. "To have two Keyblade wielders at their disposal would prove extremely valuable to them in the long run. Also, they can easily manipulate the Darkness in your heart to turn you into one of them. Do you not see what you've done? You have put yourself, as well as my entire operation, at risk!"

"I knew she couldn't be trusted from the start." said Riku. Vanessa said nothing. She had no words to say. She was so overwhelmed by shock and hurt that she had lost the ability to articulate words. Riku smirked. "What? No witty retort this time? That's disappointing." Vanessa's eyes burned with tears. She blinked them back, refusing to cry in front of him.

"It is not a matter of trust…" said DiZ. "…it is one of prudence, which you seem to lack Vanessa, I'm sorry to say." Finally, Vanessa exploded.

"Screw you old man!" she yelled, causing DiZ to flinch. "This is all _your_ fault in the first place!"

"I beg your pardon!" he cried.

"If you hadn't kept me in the dark about all of this, I would've been able to exercise more _prudence_! How would I have known about this Organization XIII if no one had told me? Huh? Tell me, 'cause I wanna know what was going through your head when you thought this over!" DiZ was speechless. She was right of course, but the blatant disrespect flabbergasted him. Vanessa turned her fury towards Riku.

"And you!" she shouted. "You are _the_ most ass-wipish jerk I've ever met in my life! Not only did you also keep valuable information from me, you eavesdropped on my conversation, which was _private_ by the way, and told on me like a filthy _rat_!" She panted heavily. She was on fire, her rage building like a volcano. "And you wanna know what's ironic? Naminé's the only Nobody in this entire house and she has more heart than all of us _combined_!" On that note, Vanessa stormed up the stairs and into her room, slamming the door behind her.

"How disrespectful!" exclaimed DiZ when he finally regained his composure. Riku looked up at Vanessa's closed door.

"She's right though…" he admitted. "…we _did_ hide things from her, and I _did_ snitch on her like a rat…" DiZ shook his head.

"We did what we had to do." he said simply. "We can not hold off on our plans because of one girl's _tantrum_." Riku sighed.

"Yeah…" he said uncertainly. "I guess…"


	8. Forged Friendships

Author's Note: The schmaltzy chapter, dun dun dun! Finally, we get some hidden romance up in this story! I hope you enjoy, and thanks for all the support!

Before I forget, I realized that every time I try to put a fancy time break in the story, the format refuses to register it. For example, in the last chapter, there was supposed to be a time break between when Vanessa was talking to Naminé, and when she was outside on the balcony. I'll try to make future breaks clearer, but I'm not sure if 's Stone Age formatting will stop being dumb and allow me to do it, but dammit I'll try!

Disclaimer:........

Chapter 8: Forged Friendships

Vanessa wiped her eyes and blew her nose for the fifth time. She was extremely upset with DiZ and Riku and cried for an hour straight.

"I can't believe them!" she complained. "How dare they blame this on me?" Suddenly, Riku appeared in her dark room. Vanessa quickly threw her blanket over her head, refusing to give him the satisfaction of her disheveled appearance.

"Get out of my room Riku!" she cried underneath her covering.

"Vanessa." said Riku. "We need to talk."

"I don't wanna talk to you!" Vanessa retorted.

"Please Vanessa…" pleaded Riku. He sighed. "…I'm sorry." Vanessa said nothing, so he continued. "You're right, if we had just been straight with you from the beginning, all of this could have been avoided. I can't speak for DiZ, but as for me, I'm sorry." Vanessa slowly revealed herself to Riku. She mentally kicked herself when she remembered his blindfold.

"Why are you apologizing?" she asked.

"Because my heart is telling me I should." Riku replied. "I've been so obsessed with getting stronger, that I haven't been listening to it lately. It's been telling me to be kinder to you, but I just tuned it out. Now that this has happened, I wish I listened sooner. Could you ever forgive me?" Vanessa thought for a moment, and then smiled.

"Aww shoot Riku, of course I forgive you!" she said cheerily. Riku smiled as well. "But the next time you do wrong by me, I'm gonna give you that slap you know you deserve!" Riku faltered, and then smirked.

"Like you could touch me." he teased. Vanessa folded her arms.

"Oh please, quit acting like you're such a big cheese Riku." she said. Riku's smirk deepened.

"I can't help it if I'm good." he joked. Vanessa rolled her eyes.

"Ch'yeah, right…" she said. She furrowed her brows. "Which reminds me, what is up with the blindfold anyway?"

"It's personal." Riku said simply.

"And what's _that_ supposed to mean?" asked Vanessa.

"It's personal." Riku repeated. Vanessa groaned.

"Oh god dammit Riku, if you don't wanna tell me, just say that!" she said exasperatedly. "Quit making me jump through all these hoops just to understand what you're thinking! Jeez man, you play more mind games than most women!" Riku could not help but to burst out laughing. Vanessa grinned.

"He has a sense of humor!" she cried excitedly. She sprang to her feet and threw open her door. "Hey world! Riku can _laugh_!" Riku laughed harder.

"Stop it Vanessa!" he said through bouts of laughter. "It's not funny!" Vanessa laughed as well.

"You're the one laughing!" she countered. When Riku finally regained his composure, he frowned.

"Now I _really_ feel guilty…" he said. "…you're not a bad person Vanessa." Vanessa smiled.

"Aww buck up Riku!" she said as she gave him a playful slap on the back. "It's all water under the bridge now! We start fresh from here, ok?" Riku nodded.

"I'd like that." he said.

"Good." said Vanessa. She stuck out her hand. "Hi, I'm Vanessa, Nessa for short, and Sapphire City's track star extraordinaire!" Riku smiled and shook her hand.

"I'm Riku." he said. "Nice to meet you."

"So Riku…" said Vanessa. "…what's up with the blindfold?"

"Well Vanessa…" replied Riku lightheartedly. "…it shows off how badass I am." Vanessa sucked her teeth and tossed Riku's hand away. He just laughed.

"You are freaking ridiculous, you know that right?" she said. Riku stopped laughing and smiled.

"I know." he said.

"So anyway, question." said Vanessa, changing the subject. "Why do you have the same coat as the Organization? You used to be a member?"

"Of course not." he said. "I wear it because it protects me from becoming overwhelmed by the Darkness."

"I see…" said Vanessa. She paused for a moment. "Hey, Riku?"

"Yeah?" he replied.

"Sora…" Vanessa said. "…what was he like?" Riku raised his eyebrow.

"Why?"

"Just wanna know."

"Well, he was really nice and a bit of a goof-ball at times. He always liked to have a good time. He's the type of guy who would give you the shirt off his back."

"Sounds like a sweet kid."

"Yeah. He was my best friend."

"Was?"

"That'll probably change when he wakes up."

"Why do you say that?"

"I was so terrible to him. And all of this…everything that's happened…it's all my fault…" Vanessa placed her hand on Riku's shoulder.

"Riku." she said. "If Sora is half the guy you're making him out to be, he'll forgive you."

"How would you know?" asked Riku. "You've never even meet him." He looked down. "You don't even know what I did…"

"I just know." said Vanessa. "My heart says so." Riku tried to smile, but couldn't bring himself to it.

"I'm sorry…" he said. "…I just don't know right now. I want to believe it but…" He sighed. "…I just don't know."

"Don't worry." said Vanessa. "You'll see it soon." She grinned. "If I'm lying, I'm dying!" Riku finally found it within himself to smile.

"Thanks Vanessa." he said. "I'm glad I talked to you."

"So does that make us friends now?" Vanessa asked. Riku nodded.

"Sure." he said. "I mean, if you _want_ to be my friend." Vanessa laughed and playfully elbowed Riku in the ribs.

"Friends we are then!" she said. "You better watch your back Riku; once you become friends with me, you won't be able to get rid of me so easily!" Riku laughed as well.

"I can't imagine why I would ever want to." he said truthfully. "Well, it's getting late. I should be getting to bed. Good night Vanessa."

"Night man." said Vanessa. "Don't be a shadow!" With one last smile, Riku disappeared from her room. Vanessa yawned.

"Man…" she said as she climbed into her bed. "…he has _got_ to teach me how to do that!"

* * *

"Good morning my fellow compadre!" Vanessa called out as she slid down the banister to the foyer. There she saw Naminé.

"Good morning Vanessa." she greeted back. "Did you have a good night sleep?" Vanessa yawned and stretched.

"Phew! I slept like a log!" she joked. Naminé giggled. "How's Project Wake-up coming along?" Naminé giggled again.

"It's going great actually." she said. "So far, I've been able to piece together many of Sora's more important memories with no problem."

"That's good." said Vanessa. "Well, I'm gonna go out again." Naminé flinched.

"A-Are you sure that's wise?" she asked nervously. "I don't think DiZ would like that very much." Vanessa rolled her eyes.

"Oh please; what is he gonna do?" Vanessa challenged. "Besides, I'll be in and out before he has a chance to miss me. And don't worry, I promise I won't run into the Organization or use my Keyblade. I just wanna get another pair of clothes. I've been wearing this same ratty jogging suit for over a week now!" Naminé still looked unsure, but gave in.

"Just be careful ok?" she said. Vanessa grinned.

"I'll be back!" she said. She rushed out the door and through the woods. It wasn't until after she arrived in Twilight Town that she realized something.

"Wait a minute…" she said to herself. She slapped her forehead. "…I don't have any money!" After quietly spewing a string of curses to her self, Vanessa decided to just explore the parts of Twilight Town she did not have a chance to see last time.

"Gotta make sure I steer clear of those thugs." she thought to herself as she made her way to the back alley of the town. She could hear talking close by. She listened closely.

"I can't wait 'til the Struggle Tournament next week!" said a boy's voice. "I'm so gonna put the hurt on Seifer!"

"And I'll take pictures!" said another boy's voice. A girl giggled.

"I just hope you do better this year than you did last time!" she teased.

"Aww come on Olette!" complained the first boy. "Have some faith will ya?" The three voices laughed.

"Phew, at least they're not Seifer…" said Vanessa with relief. A small squeak caused her to look down. Her eyes widened. At her feet was a large rat. It looked up and hissed at her. Vanessa screamed bloody murder and jumped back. She lost her balance and fell through the curtain that separated the outside from the small area she heard the three voices in. She landed flat on her back, dazed. When she regained her composure, she saw three people standing over her upside down. There were two boys, a muscular one with dirty blond hair and brown eyes, and a fat one with dark brown hair and brown eyes, and one girl with brown hair and green eyes.

"Hey! Who are you?" demanded the muscular boy. Vanessa rolled over on her stomach and hopped to her feet. She sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.

"Sorry!" she said. "Um, I'm Vanessa. Nessa for short."

"I've never seen you before. You're new here right?" asked the fat boy. "I'm Pence."

"I'm Olette." said the girl. She pointed at the muscular boy, whose arms were currently folded and had a stern expression on his face. "He's Hayner."

"Yeah yeah, greetings abound." he said sarcastically. "What are you doing here in our secret spot?" Vanessa folded her arms in annoyance.

"Well _excuse_ me!" she said. "_Sorry_ for violating the sanctity of your _secret spot_! I'm only _new_ around here and don't know where I'm going, but you're right, what was I _thinking_?" She turned to leave.

"Wait!" said Pence. She turned back around. "We didn't mean it like that."

"Yeah, don't go." said Olette. "Hayner's just been a bit upset because he got beat by Seifer again today. She gave Hayner a suggestive nudge in the ribs with her elbow.

"Sorry…" he said tersely. Vanessa laughed.

"You mean Swiffer and his clean up crew?" she joked. "Say no more, I _perfectly_ understand!" Everyone laughed at her teasings. "Don't sweat it; I'm not a grudge holder. And an enemy of my enemy is a friend o' mine!"

"You got harassed by Seifer too huh?" asked Pence. "Yeah, they're the local bullies of the town." Vanessa nodded.

"I almost got done in by that girl Fuu." she said. "For such a quiet girl, she sure knows how to hit hard!" Everyone laughed again.

"You know what Vanessa? You're ok." said Hayner. Vanessa grinned.

"Why thank you!" she said. "You're ok too."

"Let's gets some ice cream!" suggested Olette.

"Yeah, to celebrate our newly formed alliance." Pence agreed.

"Sounds good to me." he said. "What do you say Vanessa? Wanna get some ice cream with us?"

"If it involves food, I'm game!" Vanessa said. The group stepped outside, only to find a swarm of Heartless waiting for them.


	9. The Attempt

Author's Note: After a week of getting reviews, I get _none? _What is up with _that_? But anyway, I've nothing witty or reevant to say so....enjoy!

Disclaimer: *disclaiming*

Chapter 8: The Attempt

Vanessa, Hayner, Pence, and Olette stood frozen as they were surrounded by a swarm of Heartless.

"Don't make any sudden movements." whispered Vanessa. "Slowly make your way back inside."

"What _are_ these things?" whispered Hayner.

"They're very dangerous creatures called Heartless…" explained Vanessa softly. "…and if we're not careful, they'll steal our hearts."

"What?" said Pence. "That's crazy!"

"Just go back inside…" said Vanessa. "…I'll take care of them."

"Nuh uh! There's no way we're letting you fight these _things_ on your own!" said Hayner. He got into a battle stance. "I want some of the credit too!" Vanessa slapped the back of his head. "Ow! Hey! What's the big idea?"

"Boy, don't be dumb!" said Vanessa. "Just stand back ok?" She summoned her Keyblade. "I got this alright?" Hayner groaned, but relented. Vanessa rushed the swarm head on, her Keyblade raised and ready. She swung her weapon and hacked away at the Heartless. In no time at all, they all disappeared in a puff of black smoke. Vanessa grinned as she triumphantly slung her Keyblade over her shoulders.

"That's how we do it back in Sapphire City!" she boasted. The sound of clapping caused her to flinch and turn around. Out of the shadows stepped a familiar man, Axel.

"Alright, good fight!" he congratulated. "Those Heartless didn't have a _chance_!" Vanessa gritted her teeth and turned her Keyblade on the red-headed Nobody.

"What do you want?" she demanded. Axel smirked.

"My boss wants to have a little chat with you." he said. "He has a proposition for you."

"Your _boss_ can take that proposition and shove it up his ass!" Vanessa cried. Axel shook his head.

"Such colorful vocabulary you got there." he teased. "At any rate, 'no' is not an option right now." He snapped his fingers. All of a sudden, four creatures that Vanessa had never seen before appeared. They were white and humanoid in appearance. They moved about in a rhythmic, swaying fashion. "So what'll it be Vanessa? The easy way? Or the hard way?"

"How about the highway?" she asked. Before Axel could respond to this, Vanessa took off. Axel sighed.

"Why do they always run?" he mused. He snapped his fingers again. "Don't let her get away!" At his command, the creatures slithered away after their target. Meanwhile, Vanessa was running as fast as she could towards the sandlot. She looked over her shoulder; the creatures were gaining on her, fast.

"Dammit!" she thought as she ran. "Those things are no joke! What am I gonna do?"

"Hey!" cried an all too familiar voice. Vanessa halted and mentally cursed herself as Seifer and his gang surrounded her. "Remember us?"

"Yo, Seifer! Wassup?" greeted Vanessa hurriedly. "Um look I'm in a bit of a hurry so if you could please get the hell outta my way I'd appreciate it 'k thanks!" She pushed past them and ran off.

"Hey! Get back here!" shouted Seifer after her. Before he could say anything else, the white creatures pushed past him as well, knocking him down. "What the…!"

"Trouble magnet." stated Fuu. Seifer rose to his feet and dusted himself off.

"Got that right." he agreed. Vanessa ran until she was in the forest. Halfway through, she tripped on a twig and fell. She quickly sat up in time to see the creatures surrounding her. Axel appeared in front of her from the Darkness.

"You were saying?" he teased. Vanessa jumped to her feet and summoned her Keyblade. Axel smirked. "Hard way it is then!" He held out his hands. Suddenly, a burst of flames surrounded them. When the fire disappeared, two chakrams were in his hands. He set them ablaze and threw them at Vanessa. She managed to dodge one, but the second was impossible to avoid, so using all the strength that she had, she wound up her Keyblade like a bat and took a swing. The sword connected to the chakram with a loud clang and sent it flying in the opposite direction. Axel twirled around as he caught the incoming wheel. His smirk widened.

"So, you _do_ have some moves after all!" he exclaimed. "This is gonna be interesting!" With the speed and agility of a cheetah, he rushed to attack Vanessa. She held up her Keyblade and managed to block Axel's blow. She struggled against him.

"For someone who could easily hide behind a lamp post, you're kinda strong!" she jeered. Axel laughed.

"Ironic isn't it?" he said as he jumped back. He went to attack again, and again, Vanessa blocked him, though barely this time. She pushed him away and panted.

"This is _not_ cool!" she thought frantically. "The fight _just_ started and I'm _already_ worn!"

"Looking a little tired there Vanessa!" teased Axel. "You sure you don't wanna just give up? It'll be a whole lot easier for the both of us!" Vanessa gritted her teeth. Suddenly, an idea struck her.

"Like I care what's easier for _you_!" she cried before taking off once more. Axel laughed.

"You can run but you can't hide!" he teased. Vanessa slipped into the deeper, shadowy parts of the forest and hid. "Come out come out where ever you are!" As he drew closer, Vanessa jumped out and spun low on the ground, swinging her leg against Axel's. Not expecting this, hefell to the ground. Wasting no time, Vanessa ran back into Twilight Town as fast as her throbbing legs could carry her. She ran and ran until she was in the back alley. She burst into Hayner and his crew's secret spot.

"Vanessa!" they cried, jumping to their feet.

"Hide me!" she cried desperately. She spotted a trunk and crawled inside of it. She fearfully and silently lay inside the cramp space for a long while. The minutes slowly ticked by. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Vanessa felt safe enough to come out. Without a word, despite the demands of explanation from her new friends, Vanessa ran all the way back to the mansion. She burst inside to see Riku in the foyer. Without thinking, she rushed up to him and embraced him as if the world was coming to an end.

"V-Vanessa?" asked Riku in confusion. "What's gotten into you?" The Keyblade wielder burst into tears. "Vanessa! What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"The Organization sent someone to get me!" she cried. "Oh god Riku, he tried to take me away!" Riku gasped.

"They sent someone to come find you?" he asked. Vanessa just nodded, too emotional to speak. Riku embraced her. "Don't cry Vanessa. It's over now. It's ok."

"No, it's not ok!" she wailed. "I'm so confused! I don't know anything anymore! Why is this happening to me Riku? Why? I never hurt nobody no how! I've never done nothing to nobody! I'm not a bad person, so why is this happening to _me_? Why couldn't the Keyblade just choose someone else?" Riku held Vanessa close to him.

"I don't know…" he admitted softly. "…I'm sorry. I can't really answer any of those questions…"

"Just don't let them take me Riku…" Vanessa pleaded as her sobs died down. "Don't let them take me away…"

"I won't." he promised. "I won't let them get to you." Just then, DiZ appeared in the foyer.

"What is going on here?" he demanded. "Riku, what is the meaning of this?"

"The Organization is after her." Riku explained. "They sent someone to try and kidnap her."

"What!" cried DiZ. He gritted his teeth. "I was afraid this would happen…" He clasped is hands behind his back and slowly paced the floor. "This is not good. If they take her, they could hasten their plans. Worse, if we're discovered…" He shook the thought from his head. "Vanessa, I am not your parent, nor can I tell you what to do, but I implore you; you must not go back out. It is the best thing for us all that you can do right now." Vanessa pulled away from Riku and dried her eyes.

"I know." she admitted. She sniffed. "I won't."


	10. Looking Out From Within

Author's Note: You guys are so awesome! 320 hits, 10 reviews and counting! My hit/chapter percentage has grown from 50% to 70%, and my reviews (if only marginally) have exceeded my number of chapters! I love you all (even you, ghost readers) so much! And I'd especially like to thank my loyal reviewers. You guys have kept me going thus far. But enough of my sentimental blathering, on with he next chapter!

And for all you Organization fans out there, don't fret; they'll be getting a lot more screen time from here on end.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts obviously. If I did, it would be for the Gamecube (being I didn't own a PS2 until recently; don't tell nobody though). However, I do own Vanessa and all her wise-cracking, tell-it-like-it-is badassery.

Chaper 10: Looking Out From Within

"Hey Axel, you're late." said Roxas as his best friend joined him atop the clock tower's ledge.

"Sorry about that, I was getting chewed out by Saïx." Axel explained. He accepted the ice cream bar Roxas handed to him and took a bite. "Who would've thought that a girl who can barely hold her own in a fight would be so hard to catch?" Roxas looked off into the horizon.

"Axel?" he said.

"Yeah?" Axel replied.

"Why do you think she has the Keyblade?" Roxas asked. Axel shrugged his shoulders.

"Beats me." he said. "Maybe for the same reason you do." Roxas turned to face his friend.

"Why's that?" he asked curiously. Axel smirked.

"Beats me." he teased. Roxas frowned and looked away.

"Not funny…" he mumbled. He took a bite of his salty-sweet treat. "Is she a Nobody?"

"Nope, she has a heart."

"Oh…"

"Why?"

"Y'know, just wondering."

"You look like you have a lot on your mind."

"Huh? I do?"

"Y'know, if you keep thinking so hard, your brain'll explode."

"Yeah right…" Axel laughed.

"You're so uptight Roxas!" he joked. "Lighten up a little! Hey, maybe if you're lucky, this girl could be the answer to all your questions."

"You really think so?" asked Roxas. Axel shrugged.

"Who knows? Maybe." he said. "I mean, it can't be mere coincidence that you _both_ have Keyblades." Roxas smiled.

"Right." he said. "Hey Axel?"

"Yeah?" the red-headed pyro replied.

"Don't screw it up this time!" Roxas teased. Axel smirked.

"You're on." he countered.

* * *

Vanessa sighed as she stared out the window in Naminé's drawing room. It has been days since she last left the house, and in those days, she had never been so bored in her life. Naminé was always busy with Sora, and Riku was never in the mansion during the day. Also, she was strictly forbidden from going into the basement area without special permission. She knew that she had to stay put to avoid enemy detection, but the lack of freedom was making her antsy. She trained to hone in on her swordplay, but that was not enough to fill the void of the day. She sighed as she pulled her gaze away from the window; there was nothing interesting outside for her to see. She walked around the room, contenting herself with inspecting Naminé's drawings. Almost all of them featured Sora, with the exception of a few that depicted Roxas. A couple even showed the two together.

"Is this all she draws?" Vanessa wondered. She stopped on a particular drawing of Sora and two others. They stood side by side, hand in hand. She recognized one to be Kairi, the girl from her dreams. The other she did not recognize right away, but assumed it to be Riku.

"So all three of them were friends?" Vanessa mused. "I wonder what happened." She moved on to another, this time featuring Roxas. He was holding the Keyblade in a pensive sort of way.

"He's confused." she concluded. On the opposite wall near the door, she noticed a particular drawing all by its lonesome. In it was a rough drawing of a brown girl.

"Hey!" exclaimed Vanessa. "That's me!" She examined the picture more closely. Indeed it was her. In the picture, she was standing in between the page. The background to her rightwas left blank white, while the left half was colored black. Vanessa furrowed her brows.

"What does this mean?" she wondered. She reached out and touched the drawing. Suddenly, a sharp pain attacked her head. Her hand flew to her forehead. The pain was staggering. The room began to spin. She leaned against the wall in an attempt to maintain her balance. A dim light flashed, followed by black.

"_Who are you?_"

"_Who are you?_"

"_I asked first! What are you doing in my head?_"

"_I'm in your head?_"

"_Yeah, so who are you?_"

"_I…I'm Vanessa._"

"_You're that girl!_"

"_I am?_"

"_The one with the Keyblade!_"

"_R-Roxas?_"

"Vanessa!" someone shouted. Vanessa's eyes flew opened. With a gasp, she swiftly sat upright. Her vision was blurry at first, but after a few seconds, she could see Riku, Naminé, and even DiZ standing over her.

"What…?" she muttered groggily. "What happened?"

"We could ask you the same." said DiZ. "Naminé found you unconscious on the floor." Naminé nodded.

"You wouldn't wake up." she agreed, corroborating the story. "Are you alright?" Vanessa looked down and noticed that she was in bed.

"How long have I been out?" she asked.

"Not sure." said Riku. "We found you several minutes ago, but for all we know, you've been out for hours."

"Really?" said Vanessa. "I feel like I've only been out for a second."

"What happened?" asked DiZ. Vanessa shook her head.

"I can't really say." she said. "It's all a blur." She looked up at Naminé. "The last thing I remember is touching one of your pictures."

"My pictures?" she asked.

"And you don't remember anything else?" asked Riku. Vanessa thought for a moment.

"Well…" she said. "…I think I remember hearing voices."

"What did the voices say?" asked DiZ.

"No…wait…" said Vanessa, changing her mind. "…it was one voice. The other voice was mine." She felt a headache coming on. "Ugh, my head hurts."

"You should rest." suggested DiZ. "Perhaps you'll remember more later on." Vanessa nodded.

"Yeah." she agreed. DiZ promptly left the room.

"Naminé." he called from the hallway. "We must talk." Obediently, Naminé followed DiZ, closing the door behind her. Only Riku and Vanessa were left in the room.

"Are you ok?" asked Riku.

"Yeah sure." she said. "Why?"

"Well, you fainted out of no where." said Riku. "I just want to make sure you're ok." Vanessa smiled.

"Aww, ain't that sweet?" she teased. Riku smirked.

"I can be a sweet guy sometimes." he bragged. Vanessa rolled her eyes.

"There you go, thinking you're such a big shot…" she complained. Riku laughed.

"I can't help it if I'm good!" he joked. "But seriously Vanessa, are you sure you'll be alright?"

"Don't worry about me…" she assured him. "…I'll be fine."

"Ok." said Riku. He turned to leave.

"Wait!" called Vanessa, just as Riku was about to walk out the door. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." said Riku. "What is it?"

"Kairi…" said Vanessa. "…what was she like?" Riku smiled.

"Like you." he said. Vanessa furrowed her brows in confusion.

"Like me?" she repeated. "Why do you say that?" Riku shrugged.

"I don't know." he said. "You just remind me of her." Vanessa shrugged her shoulders as well.

"Whatever you say." she said. "Riku?"

"Yeah?" hereplied. Vanessa fiddled with her fingers nervously.

"Could you…" she began. "…could you do me a favor?"

"What is it?" Riku asked. Vanessa sighed.

"May I…see your eyes?" she asked, her voice trailing away towards the end of the question. Riku stood there in silence, staring into the blackness of his blindfold. Vanessa turned apprehensive.

"Oh crap!" she thought. "I hope he doesn't take that the wrong way!"

"Why?" Riku finally asked.

"I dunno…" said Vanessa. "…I guess it's just weird not knowing what you look like. I mean, you don't _have_ to if you don't want to show me, I just…" She trailed off and sighed. "Forget it; that sounded really dumb, I know…" She looked away. "Just do me a favor and not make anything out of it…"

"Vanessa." said Riku. When she looked up, she saw that Riku was next to her bed. His hand gently lifted the blindfold from over his eyes. Vanessa's heart skipped a beat at what she saw. Riku's eyes were narrow and pale aqua, the color of a saddened tropical ocean reflecting a cloudy sky, which to Vanessa, was beautiful in an odd way. She smiled.

"Hot damn." she could not help but to say. Riku smiled as well.

"It's been a while since I last saw you." he said. "I almost forgot what you looked like."

"Why do you hide your eyes Riku?" Vanessa asked. "You can take this however you want but, they're beautiful." Riku's smile slowly melted from his face.

"Because…" he said as he hid his eyes from the world once again. "…they can't lie." Vanessa furrowed her brows.

"What?" she asked. "Can't lie about what?"

"Your eyes are beautiful too." said Riku, ignoring the question. "The color compliments your skin." With that, he melted away into the Darkness. Vanessa blinked, utterly confused. She just sighed and shook it off. She smiled and lay back in her bed as she daydreamed about his eyes, his beautiful aqua eyes.


	11. Rematch

Author's Note: Hello again everyone! I've moved back into my regular updating schedule, every night at around 8-10PM-ish. Once again, I've nothing especially important to say, so on with the show!

Disclaimer: Do I _really_ have to keep putting these in here?

Chapter 11: Rematch

"Honestly Axel, how hard is it to find one girl?" asked Saïx. Axel folded his arms.

"Very if I have no idea where to _look_." he countered. Saïx grunted and turned his back to Axel to stare out the large window. Kingdom Hearts glowed brilliantly in the dark sky.

"The only reason _you_ was put on this assignment is because you seemed confident that you knew where to find her." he said. "Are you saying now that your confidence has waned?" Axel smirked.

"I'm saying that she's more clever than I originally suspected." he said, avoiding Saïx's bait. Saïx turned around to face him.

"So what do you propose?" he asked.

"Well, the only thing we can do now is to wait until she pops back up on the radar." said Axel. Saïx sighed.

"That seems to be our only option…" he mused. "…but when she does, I will be sending someone else in your place." Axel shrugged.

"And? You thought that'd hurt my 'feelings'?" he teased. He began to fade into the Darkness. "Do whatever you want; it's no skin off my nose. Just don't underestimate her; she has a Keyblade after all." Saïx grunted once more.

"That she does…" he mumbled to himself.

* * *

"Aren't there laws against being _this_ bored?" cried Vanessa with frustration. Naminé looked up from her drawing.

"If you're bored, find something to do." she suggested.

"Like _what_?" Vanessa asked. "I can't go outside, I can't explore the mansion; I can't even paint because I have no paints!" She groaned and slumped on the floor against the wall. "Y'know, training only gets me but so far through the day. I almost wish I was being attacked by Heartless right now; at least _that's_ exciting."

"You don't mean that, do you?" asked Naminé. Vanessa laughed.

"Of course not!" she said reassuringly. "I'm just talking out of my head. That's how bored I am; I'm talking nonsense." Naminé giggled.

"I'm sorry Vanessa." she said. "I wish I could help you." Vanessa stood to her feet.

"Maybe you can." she said. "Naminé, can I trust you?" The Nobody flinched.

"Why?" she asked.

"I'm gonna go back out." said Vanessa. Naminé gasped.

"V-Vanessa, you can't!" she cried. "If you get caught…!"

"I won't get caught." said Vanessa. "My mind's made up Naminé; I need to do this, or else I'll go crazy." Naminé looked down.

"Vanessa…" she said softly. "…it's too dangerous." Vanessa shrugged.

"Probably." she said. She threw on her jacket and zipped it up. "Cover for me ok?" She made her way downstairs to the foyer. Just as she placed her hand on the doorknob, someone grabbed her arm. She swiftly turned around. It was Naminé.

"Wait." she said. She slipped Vanessa a small brown sack. "Take this." Vanessa eyed it suspiciously.

"What is this?" she asked. Naminé smiled.

"It's 500 munny." she said. "You might need it." Vanessa smiled back and gave Naminé a hug. Naminé gasped.

"You're the best Naminé!" said Vanessa graciously. "I don't care if I get caught anymore; this'll be worth getting chewed out for. See you in a bit." She left the mansion and deeply inhaled the crisp forest air.

"Ah!" she exhaled. "It feels so good to be out again!" She ran swiftly through the forest until she arrived downtown. She slowed her pace to a walk and strolled around town, no specific destination in mind. She was so glad to be outside that she didn't care where she ended up. She continued to walk until she was in the back alley.

"Hmm, I wonder how Hayner, Pence, and Olette are doing." she wondered. "I kinda bolted on them and disappeared for a whole week and a half." She pulled back the curtain of their secret spot. She was disappointed to find that they were not there. She sighed.

"Well that sucks." she said. Suddenly, she heard shouts. On a whim, she followed the noise until she arrived at the sandlot. There, she found her friends. Hayner was duking it out with Seifer while Pence and Olette cheered him on. Olette noticed Vanessa and waved at her.

"Vanessa!" she called. Hayner looked over to her. Taking advantage of his distraction, Seifer connected his weapon into Hayner's gut. He fell to the ground, his weapon flying out of his hands.

"Game." said Fuu.

"Way to go Seifer, y'know!" cheered Rai. Seifer laughed.

"It's only natural that I won." he bragged. He looked over at Vanessa. "Well well well, if it isn't the cowardly trouble magnet herself. I thought we ran you out of town." Vanessa smirked.

"And if it ain't Swiffer, the bully with the terrible fashion-sense, and his clean up crew." she retorted. "Take out any trash lately? Guess not, considering you're still here."

"You're just begging for trouble, y'know!" cried Rai. Vanessa twirled around and shook her butt at Seifer.

"Nah nuh nah nuh boo boo!" she teased. Seifer's face flushed as Hayner and his crew laughed at Vanessa's antics. He growled.

"That's it!" he cried. He grabbed a weapon and tossed it at Vanessa. He pointed his own at her. "Let's settle this right now!" Vanessa picked up the peculiar stick with blue padding and looked at it curiously.

"What's this?" she asked.

"It's a Struggle bat." said Hayner. "Seifer's challenging you to a Struggle match."

"A _what_?" asked Vanessa.

"A fight nimrod." said Fuu.

"Oh!" exclaimed Vanessa. She pulled into a defensive stance. "Well shoot, why didn't you just say so? I hope this place wants a good cleaning 'cause I'm gonna wipe the floor with you!" Seifer smirked.

"It's go time!" he said. He rushed to attack Vanessa. She parried his attack and delivered one of her own. Seifer blocked it and jumped back. "Hurmph, you've gotten better." Vanessa smirked.

"That…" she said. "…or I've just been holding back the entire time." It was her turn to take the offensive. She feinted an attack at Seifer, who fell for the trick. As he tried to block the fake attack, he left himself wide open for the real attack, the one straight to his face. Vanessa slammed her bat into Seifer's cheek, knocking him to the ground.

"Way to go Vanessa!" Hayner and his friends cheered.

"Seifer!" cried Vivi.

"Get up, y'know!" shouted Rai. Seifer rolled back and stood to his feet. He angrily rubbed his sore cheek, which was as red as a tomato.

"That's it, no more playing around!" he cried. With a speed Vanessa did not know he possessed, Seifer rushed in and collided into her stomach. She stumbled back and quickly dodged his follow up attack. She held her stomach in pain.

"God damn!" she cried. "Didn't your mama ever teach you never to hit a girl?" Seifer smirked. He went to attack again, but Vanessa blocked him. She struggled against him, their weapons locked against each other.

"Had enough?" Seifer sneered. Vanessa gritted her teeth as she began to lose her balance; Seifer was too strong.

"Come on Vanessa!" cried Hayner. "Don't give up!"

"You can do it Vanessa!" cheered Olette. Vanessa took a small step back to brace her self as she doubled her efforts to push against Seifer. She succeeded in evening the odds in the struggle. With all her might, she pushed Seifer back and swung her bat as hard as she could. It impacted against Seifer's right shoulder. He staggered back in pain. Before he could make a move, Vanessa swung her weapon up against Seifer's chin like an uppercut, knocking him into the air. As if time had suddenly slowed down, Seifer sailed through the air and landed hard on the ground. He tried to get to his feet, but he gave up and sprawled out on the ground, sore and exhausted. Everyone was speechless. Even Vanessa was somewhat surprised. The flash of a camera taking a snapshot forced everyone back down to earth.

"Go Vanessa!" cheered Hayner and his gang. Vanessa breathed heavily as she slowly recovered from the adrenaline rush. She smiled and pumped her fist into the air.

"Oh yeah! I kick ass!" she cried. She pointed her weapon at Seifer's crew. "Anyone _else_ want some of this?"

"Erm, Seifer's just not feeling his best, y'know!" said Rai, making excuses.

"Lucky." said Fuu. They helped Seifer to his feet and retreated elsewhere. Hayner, Pence, and Olette crowded around Vanessa.

"That was awesome Vanessa!" said Pence. He grinned and held up a photo. "And I got it all right here!"

"Seifer's gonna be burned about this for _weeks_!" Hayner said. "How'd you do that?" Vanessa shrugged.

"Don't know." she admitted. "Guess I was just sick of his face." Everyone laughed at that.

"Now we _really_ have to get some ice cream!" said Olette. Hayner nodded.

"Yeah, our treat." he said. "You totally deserve it." Vanessa grinned.

"Thanks!" she said. She followed her new friends to the ice cream shop downtown.

"Four please." said Hayner.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" said the shopkeeper. "I just sold out! Someone already bought the last two." Hayner groaned.

"Of all the rotten luck…" he complained.

"Oh well…" said Olette. "…let's just go back to the usual spot. You coming Vanessa?" Vanessa shrugged.

"Sure." she said. She followed them to the back alley. Just as she left, a cloaked figure smirked underneath the shadow of his hood from his spot behind the ice cream stand.

"Back on radar." he said before disappearing in the Darkness.


	12. Quaint Acquaintance

Author's Note: Y'know, I was feeling a bit out of it today for reasons unknown and I _was_ gonna take it out on you, my poor defenseless readers, by waiting until Monday to update, but after reading a particularly uplifting review (you know who you are), it inspired me to not be a total asshat. So instead, I'm gonna update all weekend as planned, whether I get a review or not, because truth be told, I worked pretty damn hard on this fanfic. My true inspiration for this storywas the fact that many people on this website can't write for shit. I know that sounds harsh, but it's true. Call me a condescending, arogant bastard all you want, but I aspired to make this fanfic the best written, most realistic (in context of the game), engaging story I could think of. And thanks to that review, I'd like to think I've done a pretty good job so far. Damn, I really hope I've kept it up, because like I said before, this story is pre-written. But enough of this shitty block text, on with the chapter!

Disclaimer: Kindom Hearts is not mine (but I really do seem to make it my own, huh?). Vanessa, however, _is_ mine, contrary to popular belief (my goodness, I'm getting such a swelled head! someone stop me!).

Chapter 12: Quaint Acquaintance

"And then I totally kicked his sorry ass!" bragged Vanessa to Naminé as the Nobody drew. "He didn't have _nothing_ on me!" Naminé giggled.

"Sounds like you had fun." she said. Vanessa nodded.

"Lots." she said. "I _was_ gonna have some ice cream with Hayner and the rest, but some jerk bought the last two before we got there. I guess it doesn't matter. Even if that didn't happen, two out of four isn't too good anyway." She shrugged. "Oh well, them's the breaks."

"I'm glad you had a good time." said Naminé. "Are you going back out tomorrow?" Vanessa crossed her arms ponderingly.

"I don't think I should push my luck but…" she said. "…I promised that I'd hang out with them tomorrow." She sighed. "I don't know. What do you think?"

"I think you should be careful." said Naminé. "The Organization could have spies everywhere." Vanessa stuck out her tongue in annoyance.

"Of course." she said. She sat down and put her head in her arms on the table. "Naminé?"

"Yes Vanessa?" replied Naminé.

"Do you think I'll ever get back home?" Vanessa asked out of the blue.

"I'm not sure." said Naminé. "Maybe when Sora wakes up, he can take you back to your world." Vanessa sat up.

"Really?" she asked. "He would do that?" Naminé nodded.

"I believe that he would." she said truthfully. "He's that kind of person." Vanessa smiled.

"Sounds like a real standup guy." she said. She looked at a random drawing of Sora. "I can't wait to meet him. He sounds like one helluva good person. Which reminds me, how's your work coming along?"

"Slowly…" said Naminé. "…but problem-free. It's taking a long time, but it's going steadily." Vanessa nodded.

"That's good." she said. "Hey Naminé?"

"Yes?"

"How did Sora become a Heartless?"

"Kairi's heart was locked inside of him, so he pierced himself with the Keyblade to unlock it. As a result, he unlocked his own heart as well."

"Wait, he _stabbed_ himself with his own Keyblade? God damn, he sure is ballsy if not utterly _stupid_. Kairi must be pretty darn special if he was willing to commit virtual suicide."

"He cares about her very much."

"I'd put my life-savings on that. And you said the Light in her heart turned him back to normal?"

"Yes. She was so willing to protect Sora, even though he was now a Heartless, that she was able to save him. It's complicated at best."

"You're telling _me_. But, that's kinda cool. Where's Kairi now?"

"Back on Destiny Island, their home."

"Destiny Island? Sounds sexy." Naminé faltered. Vanessa just laughed. "I got you didn't I?" Naminé shook her head.

"You're very strange Vanessa." she remarked. The dark-skinned Keyblade wielder smirked.

"I am what I is." she said simply.

"May I ask you a question?" asked Naminé.

"Shoot." said Vanessa.

"What is your home world like?"

"Well, it's a big city. There're always a lot of people doing a lot of different things. I knew almost everyone if my area, and almost everyone knew me."

"How come?"

"Well, I'm a track star at my school, and I compete in a lot of citywide races. I win most of the time."

"You're a runner?"

"Yeah. I used to like to race, but now everyone takes it too seriously and puts too much pressure on me. I still like to run, but I _hate_ to race."

"Oh. I'm sorry." Vanessa grinned.

"Don't sweat the small stuff." she said. "It's not a big deal." Suddenly, Riku appeared in the room.

"Naminé, DiZ wants to see you downstairs." he said.

"Since when did knocking become passé?" Vanessa joked after Naminé exited the room. Riku smirked.

"Hey Vanessa." he said. "How was your day?"

"Depends." said Vanessa. "Will you freak out if I tell you the truth?"

"I already know you went out." he said. Vanessa faltered.

"H-How?" she exclaimed. "How could you _possibly _know that, unless you _followed _me?" Riku shook his head.

"I didn't follow you…" he said. "…I just took a guess, and you confirmed it." Vanessa's mouth gaped open with shock.

"You conniving little…!" she cried, trailing off. She thrust her hands upon her hips. "That's just wrong Riku!"

"Don't worry." he said. "I won't tell. But you really shouldn't go back out anymore Vanessa; it's way too dangerous." Vanessa sighed.

"I know…" she said. "…but it gets so _boring_ in here by my self! Naminé's always working, and you're never even here half the time! Where do you _go_ anyway?"

"Out." said Riku.

"What did I say about that Riku?" she said coolly. "You don't have to deflect the question, just straight up say, 'None of your god damn business Vanessa; butt out'." Riku shook his head.

"I'd never say that to you." he said. "That's mean." Vanessa rolled her eyes.

"Your chivalry is overwhelming me." she said sarcastically. "Shoot, I'd rather you be mean then lead me on."

"Fine." said Riku. "I'll just be honest from now on; none of your business Vanessa." Vanessa smiled and gave Riku a playful shove.

"See, was that so difficult?" she asked. "It's your own decision whether or not to tell me; I know what it means to have secrets that are completely irrelevant to me. I'm nosy, but I know when to back off."

"You're very weird." said Riku. Vanessa laughed.

"And why do you say that?" she asked.

"You do the exact opposite of what I'd normally expect from someone else."

"Like how?"

"Well, I clearly insulted you, and you laughed. I refuse to tell you my secrets, and instead of getting mad at me for that, you're mad that I just won't say outright that I'm not telling you my secret. You're just...weird."

"You're not exactly a picture of _normality_ yourself Riku, but I'm sure you don't need _me_ to tell you that. But hey, I am who I am. Call me weird, call me crazy, call me whatever; I am who I am. Besides…" She placed her hand on Riku's shoulder. "…you'll tell me when you feel like it. Until then, I'll be waiting." Riku placed his hand over Vanessa's.

"You'd really wait for me?" he asked.

"Sure." said Vanessa. "That's what friends do right, wait for each other? Friendship is a waiting game, one I've failed at so many times that I'm now officially an expert, so says me." She slipped her hand from underneath Riku's and lightly poked his chest. "But that's a secret, so don't tell nobody, ai'ight?" Riku smiled.

"I won't." he promised. Vanessa smiled as well.

"Alrighty then." she said. "I believe you." She yawned. "Well, that's all I gotta say about that." She went to leave.

"Vanessa." Riku called. She stopped and turned to face him.

"Yeah?" she replied. Riku removed his blindfold and smiled at her.

"Don't ever change ok?" he said. "You're weird, but I like you just as you are." Vanessa grinned.

"You bet your sweet ass I won't." she said. "I promise."


	13. Kidnap

Author's Note: Here you go, next chapter! The chapter you've all been waiting for: the day the Organization plays a bigger role! Hurrah for Axel and Roxas (contrary to popular belief, I do not support AkuRoku)!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.

Chapter 13: Kidnap

Vanessa laughed alongside her friends at her joke. The next day, she decided to go out again despite Naminé's protests and warnings. She did not want to disappoint her new friends, and even felt that she owed it to them.

"How much longer will you be here Vanessa?" asked Olette. Vanessa shrugged.

"Gosh, who knows?" she said. "I sure don't. I can't even make a guess."

"Why do you say that?" asked Pence. Vanessa grinned slyly.

"'Tis a secret my fair man." she joked. She laughed. "Don't worry about it, I was just being weird."

"Well, you sure are good at it." said Hayner. Vanessa folded her arms.

"Why do everyone and their grandmas think I'm weird?" she wondered. Olette giggled.

"You're not weird Vanessa." she said. "Hayner's just being Hayner."

"Stop being such a Hayner Hayner!" she joked, receiving a laugh from everyone, including Hayner.

"I hope you stay a while." said Pence. "You're pretty cool. Smile!" He held up the camera to Vanessa, who struck a ridiculous pose, causing Pence to laugh as he snapped the photo.

"Hey, let's take a rock-star photo!" suggested Vanessa.

"Huh? What's a rock-star photo?" asked Olette.

"It's when a group of people take a picture while trying to look all badass and mysterious without actually looking at the camera." Vanessa explained. "It's really cool. Here, I'll show you. Pence?" Pence held up the camera. Vanessa leaned against a wall with her arms crossed, a very stoic and mysterious expression on her face. She looked apathetically away from the camera. Pence snapped the shot and held it for everyone to see.

"Wow, that actually looks pretty cool!" said Hayner. "Let's do it!"

"We have to find someone to take the photo for us." said Pence. "I know, we'll ask the shopkeeper at the ice cream place!"

"Yeah, and maybe she'll actually have some _ice cream_ this time!" said Vanessa.

"Let's go." said Hayner. They all traveled to the ice cream stand. When they arrived, a cloaked man stood in the way. Vanessa's eyes widened with horror. The cloaked man turned to face them, his face completely hidden by his hood.

"Well looky here!" he said in a peculiar surfer-dude accent. "Now how did I know if I stood here long enough, you were bound to show up?"

"Who are you?" Hayner demanded, stepping in between the strange man and Vanessa. The man laughed.

"Just a _nobody_." he said cryptically. "So Vanessa, that's your name right? Come along now." Vanessa stepped back.

"The Organization…" she whispered. Her face hardened with anger. "No way!" She turned around and bolted. She did not get far before she felt something whiz over her head. She stopped and turned around. In the man's hand was an odd weapon that looked a lot like an arrowgun.

"First shot was a warning." he said. "Anymore resistance and I can pretty much guarantee the next shot'll go in a place you'd rather it not." He turned his weapon on Pence. "Like one of your friends for example." Vanessa flinched.

"You wouldn't!" she shouted. The man laughed.

"As if! Care to try me?" he teased. Vanessa trembled with anger. She sighed.

"Fine…" she relented. "…I'll go…"

"Vanessa! Are you _nuts_?" cried Hayner. "We'll be fine! Just go! Get out of here!" Vanessa shook her head.

"No." she said. "I can't. If something happened to you guys, I…" She trailed off. "I'm sorry…"

"Vanessa…" said Olette softly. The mysterious man chuckled.

"How noble of you!" he teased. "But anyway, let's be off before the boss get's all impatient." With the wave of his hand, a dark portal opened up behind Vanessa. The man walked beside her. With one quick motion, he swept her up onto his shoulder.

"Hey! Put me down!" she cried. She struggled in his strong gasp. "Put me down dammit! I said I'd go!" The man laughed.

"Can never be too careful!" he teased. The confused and fearful faces of her friends were the last thing Vanessa saw before the man stepped through the portal and into the Corridor of Darkness. The Darkness overwhelmed her, filling the air in her lungs, crushing her. Before long, she passed out cold.

Vanessa groaned as she slowly came to. She checked her surroundings in confusion. She noticed that she was in a cell in a dungeon-like area.

"What the…?" she said. "Where the hell am I?" She grabbed the bars and tried to rattle them. They would not budge. She tried to find a lock. There was none. Not even hinges were present to indicate an opening.

"How did I get in here if this damn thing doesn't even open?" Vanessa asked in frustration. She summoned her Keyblade. "Oh well, there's more than one way to skin a cat!" She proceeded to lash out at the bars. The Keyblade bounced back and reverberated in her hand. She tried again, with the same results. She tried to bust her way through a few more times, but to no avail. She panted as her Keyblade disappeared.

"Damn…" she breathed. "…these bars are no freaking joke!" She sat on the floor to catch her breath.

"I can't believe I let myself get caught!" she scolded herself. "Why don't I ever listen? Naminé warned me, and I went anyway! I'm such a moron…" Her face fell. "Naminé, Riku…what will they do when they find out I'm gone? Will they look for me?" She shook her head. "Ch'yeah, right. If they're smart, they'll just leave me here to fend for myself like the dumbass I am. It's not like I don't totally deserve it…" She sulked for exactly three seconds before she jumped to her feet, Keyblade in hand.

"Screw this self-pity crap!" Vanessa cried. She held her weapon at the ready. "I'm getting the hell outta here my own damn self!" She swung at the bars with all her might. They seemed to give way; not much, but enough to boost her resolve, which in turn boosted her strength. She hacked away at the bars, determined not be kept a prisoner. She had to see her friends again. She had to let them know she was ok. She had to get out of there.

"Just a little more!" she thought. The bars were almost completely broken. With one last well-timed swing, she knocked a few bars away, creating a gap just large enough for her to squeeze through. It took a while, but when she finally managed to escape her prison, she ran down the plain white halls as swiftly as she could. She climbed up the stairwell she found and continued to run. She had no idea where she was going, or even a plan. She was running on pure adrenaline and instinct, fear and determination.

"Ok dumbass, when you get home, you're never going outside ever again!" she said as she rounded a corner. She stopped. Her eyes widened with horror. Just ahead of her was a man whose face she would never forget. Axel stared back at her with equal disbelief.

"Hey!" he shouted. "How'd you get out?" Vanessa bolted in the opposite direction in response.

"Crap!" she shouted in her mind. "Dammit! Now they know you're free!" She glanced behind her shoulder; Axel was not behind her. She breathed a sigh of relief and looked ahead. She almost lurched forward from the abrupt stop she was forced to make. She staggered back from the smirking face that had suddenly appeared in front of her.

"And where do you think _you're_ going?" sneered Axel. Vanessa trembled with fright. She turned to run, but the white creatures that she faced just a week before appeared behind her, blocking her path. Vanessa looked around, her hope dwindling as she was forced to cancel out all possible means of escape. Axel chuckled.

"What's the matter? Lost?" he teased. Vanessa gritted her teeth.

"Get outta the way!" she shouted. Axel chuckled again.

"No can do." he said, waggling a finger. "Nothing personal, it's just, my boss wouldn't like that very much." Suddenly, another man appeared from the Darkness. He had long blue hair and cat-like yellow eyes. His ears were pointed like an elf's and an X-shaped scar covered the front of his face over the bridge of his nose. Like Axel, he wore a black coat.

"What is going on here?" asked the man coolly. Axel smirked.

"Ah Saïx! Come to join the party huh?" he joked. "Our little prisoner here decided to pull a jailbreak. Don't worry though; I was just about to round her up."

"How did she escape in the first place?" asked the man known as Saïx through clenched teeth. He was obviously irked. Axel shrugged his shoulders. Saïx glared at Vanessa. "It seems she's stronger than we originally anticipated. That may prove to be both a blessing and a curse in the future." Axel rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, I don't know about all of that…" he said. "…but anyway, what do you what me to do with her?" Saïx smirked.

"Nothing." he said. "I'll handle her from here. You're dismissed." Axel shrugged. He gave Vanessa a wink.

"You be good now!" he joked before disappearing in the Darkness. Vanessa trembled fearfully as Saïx advanced her. She backed up, only to remember the creatures behind her. One grabbed her and wrapped its arms tightly around her, preventing her escape. Vanessa screamed.

"Let me go!" she cried. She tried to fight, but the creature was too strong. She could do nothing more but stare helplessly at the face of impending doom.


	14. Tricks

Author's Note: Thank you guys so much for the continuing support! I'm almost sorry I talked so much shit about you in previous notes (keyword: almost). I'd like to point out that I find it funny that you think Vanessa's going to be saved. Haha, you readers, you crack me up! Ahem, anyway, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and you'll see why. Hint: Demyx is in it. Hint hint: I will accept flames for this one occasion only. Enjoy (unless you're a Demyx fan)!

Disclaimer: There's a good reason why fans don't own their fanfictions' respective topics: fangirls. _Yaoi _fangirls. Need I say more?

Story Disclaimer: I'm not a Demyx-basher. I actually like the guy.

Chapter 14: Tricks

Naminé stood by the window as she awaited Vanessa's return. Against her warning, Vanessa decided to go out anyway. Naminé sighed. The sun was beginning to set, and still no Vanessa.

"Maybe she lost track of the time." Naminé mused. She waited a little longer. The minutes flowed into an hour, and then two. She grew anxious.

"No, she would never stay out this late." she said. Suddenly, Riku appeared in her room. She jumped in alarm.

"Riku!" she exclaimed. "You startled me!"

"I'm sorry." he said. "Have you seen Vanessa? She's not in her room, so I figured I'd check here." Naminé looked down.

"She…" she began. "…she didn't come back yet." Riku flinched.

"What?" he exclaimed. "She went out _again_? Naminé! Why didn't you stop her?"

"I tried…" she said. "…but she wouldn't hear it. She promised she'd be back before sunset but…" Riku clenched his fists.

"I can't believe her!" he cried. Using the Darkness, he teleported to the downtown area of Twilight Town. He looked in every conceivable place, but could not find her. He moved on to look in the rest of the small hamlet. After an hour, it became clear: Vanessa was gone.

"Damn it Vanessa…" said Riku. He teleported to the basement of the mansion where DiZ tapped away at the keys of his computer.

"You seem anxious." he noticed. "What has happened?"

"She's gone." said Riku. "Vanessa's gone." DiZ stopped and abruptly turned around.

"What do you mean _gone_?" he asked. "Please do not say _they_ have her!"

"I don't know…" said Riku. "…but I think so." DiZ gritted his teeth.

"That girl!" he exclaimed. "Does she _never_ listen? How long ago did she disappear?"

"I don't know." said Riku. "But Naminé does." DiZ shook his head and sighed.

"Naminé…" he muttered. "Well, there's nothing we can do about it now. Vanessa has refused to acknowledge the danger she was in, and such is her fate." Riku flinched.

"So what, we're just gonna sit here?' he asked. "Shouldn't we rescue her?"

"And risk the discovery of our entire operation in the process? I think not!" said DiZ. "I understand that you've grown fond of her, but she has brought this upon herself. It is lamentable, yes, but this is the fate she chose for herself."

"But…!" exclaimed Riku.

"There's nothing we can do." interrupted DiZ.

"So that's it huh?" asked Riku.

"I am sorry." said DiZ. Riku glared his way.

"No you're not." he said coldly. Before DiZ could retort, Riku disappeared.

* * *

Vanessa squirmed against the ropes that bound her. Her hands were tightly tied behind her back and her ankles were bound so that she could not walk. No matter how much she struggled with the knots, they would not come loose.

"Dammit!" she cried with frustration. "Where did that guy learn to tie, the freaking _army_?" After wrestling with the ropes for several more minutes, she gave up.

"I can't believe this…" she thought despondently. "I had a perfect opportunity to escape, and I blew it!" Suddenly, a dark portal appeared in front of her cell. Out of the Darkness walked a man. He had blond hair styled in a mullet and grass green eyes. Like everyone else she saw, he wore a black coat.

"Oh, I can't believe they picked _me_ to do this!" he complained. He smiled awkwardly at Vanessa. "Uh, hi! You must be the prisoner!" Vanessa glared coldly at him. He faltered. "Uh right…I'm Demyx by the way, and uh, I'll be watching you to make sure you don't escape so, please don't try. Ok?" Vanessa furrowed her brows.

"Is this guy for real?" she thought. The strange man known as Demyx seemed to sweat under Vanessa's gaze.

"Oh don't stare at me like that!" he whined. "You're making me nervous ok? I'm not really good at things like this so just go easy on me will ya?" Vanessa made a face.

"What a freaking weirdo!" she thought. She watched as Demyx sat against the wall. In a burst of water, a large blue guitar-like instrument appeared in his hands.

"You won't mind if I play my sitar will you?" he asked politely. Vanessa said nothing. "Um, I guess that's a no." He began to preoccupy himself with strumming his sitar. Vanessa stared at him for a good two minutes before shaking the entire situation off.

"Just roll with it Vanessa, don't question opportunity when it knocks." she thought. "Now, what to do about these damn ropes?" After thinking about it long and hard, an idea struck her. She held her hands out behind her back and closed her eyes to focus. She gently wriggled her hand so that her palm was facing the ropes. She summoned her Keyblade. Just as she predicted, the ropes were cut in its wake. She smiled as she rubbed her sore wrists.

"Oh yeah, I kick ass!" she said to herself. She used her Keyblade to cut the ropes binding her feet. She stood up and leaned against the bars.

"He may be weird, but he's pretty darn good with that sitar of his." Vanessa thought. She said aloud, "Hey, you're kinda good!" Demyx looked up and smiled. It quickly melted from his face, however, when he noticed that Vanessa was free from her binds. He jumped to his feet in alarm.

"How did you get free?" he demanded. Vanessa laughed.

"Innovation my good man." she replied as she nonchalantly twirled around her Keyblade. "It makes the world go round." Demyx paled considerably.

"Oh no! Um, look, Vanessa, p-please, I'm begging ya! Please just stay put! At least until _after_ my shift!" he pleaded. "If you escape on my watch, I'll get turned into a Dusk for sure!" Vanessa called away her weapon and gave Demyx a strange look.

"Are you seriously begging _me_, the _prisoner_, for a favor?" she asked. She laughed. "You really _aren't_ good at this!"

"Hey! It's not funny!" he said. He tried to scowl, but the attempt only made Vanessa laugh harder. He folded his arms. "You're so mean!" Vanessa willed herself to stop.

"Ok ok, I'm sorry." she said. "What'd you say your name was? Demyx?" The sitar-player nodded.

"Yeah." he said. Vanessa held her chin pensively.

"Well Demyx…" she said. "…how about we have ourselves a little deal?" Demyx flinched.

"A-A deal?" he repeated nervously.

"Yeah." said Vanessa. "I promise not to escape, if you just do me a teensy-weensy favor."

"What kind of favor?"

"A glass of water, if you please."

"And that's it?"

"For now." Demyx looked down.

"Well…" he said. He grinned. "…ok! That doesn't seem too hard!" He looked around. "Uh, but I need a glass…" He snapped his fingers. "I'll be right back!" He disappeared into a dark portal. In a few seconds, he was back with an empty glass. "Here, hold this." He handed Vanessa the glass and held out his hand. A small blob of water appeared. He dropped it into the glass, filling it up. "Ta-dah!" Vanessa warily looked at the glass.

"That was pretty darn cool…" she admitted. …but, I have no idea where this water came from." Demyx faltered.

"Wh-What?" he said. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I don't wanna be difficult but…" said Vanessa. She sucked her teeth with mock-regret. "…yeah, I can't really trust this water, being your prisoner and all."

"B-But, that's the purest water you could ever drink!" argued Demyx. "It's not gonna bite you or anything; I made it myself!" Vanessa shook her head and dumped it on the floor.

"Nah uh, I'll take my chances with tap if you please." she said. Demyx folded his arms.

"No way!" he protested. "That was good water you just wasted! Have fun being thirsty, 'cause I'm not budging!" Vanessa smirked.

"M'kay, if that's how you wanna play it." she said. She summoned her Keyblade. Demyx staggered back in alarm.

"H-Hey!" he cried. "What are you…?' Vanessa began to whale on the bars. Demyx's hands flew to his head in panic. "Stop it stop it! Ok, I'll get your water! Just stop ok!" Vanessa stopped and disappeared her weapon. Demyx grudgingly vanished behind yet another portal. When he came back, he had the glass freshly filled with tap water. Vanessa graciously accepted it and took a swig. She spurted it out almost immediately.

"Ugh!" she cried, holding the glass indignantly. "What the hell is this?"

"Its tap water." said Demyx. "Isn't that what you wanted?"

"Yeah, before I knew how _nasty_ it was!" said Vanessa. She flung the water out over her shoulder. "You wouldn't mind if I could try your water again would ya?"

"No! I'm doing this again!" defied Demyx. Vanessa summoned her Keyblade once more.

"I said, _would ya mind_?" she threatened, her weapon at the ready. Demyx hesitated for a moment before finally relenting. With a groan, he filled her glass once more with his own water. Vanessa gulped it down. "Mmm! This ain't half bad!" Demyx's mouth gaped open.

"What?" he cried. "I went through all of that when you were going to drink it _anyway_?" Vanessa laughed as she wiped her mouth.

"I know right? Them's the breaks!" she teased. Demyx scowled and angrily turned his back to Vanessa.

"You're so mean!" he complained. "You're terrible! I tried to be nice to you and you took advantage of it! Have fun when my shift ends, 'cause the others? Let's just say they're not as easygoing as me." Vanessa folded her arms.

"Well _sorry_ for trying to lighten my own mood!" she retaliated. She sighed. "You're not the one on this side of the cell you know…" Demyx softened his posture and turned back around.

"Well, I guess you got a point there." he said. "Sorry." Vanessa smiled.

"I'm sorry for being such a jerk." she said. "What do ya say, think we can start over?" Demyx smiled.

"Sure!" he said.

"Sweet!" said Vanessa. "Now as a gesture of our newfound friendship, bust me outta here!" Demyx frowned.

"Nice try." he said. "I may not be the brightest bulb in the box, but I'm not _stupid_." Vanessa sighed exaggeratedly and snapped her fingers.

"Oh darn!" she said jokingly. Demyx laughed.

"Y'know what? You're pretty ok!" said Demyx. He sat down and summoned his sitar once more. "You like music?"

"Who doesn't?" Vanessa replied. Demyx smiled and began to play. Vanessa sat down as well and nodded her head to the beat. At least for now, she did not feel so much like a prisoner.


	15. Face to Face

Author's Note: Thanks for the continuing support, blah blah blah, I'm tired. As always, enjoy the chapter biznatches!

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN IT FOR PETE'S SAKE!

Story Disclaimer: I'm not an Axel-hater either...

Chapter 15: Face to Face

Vanessa clapped her hands and cheered as Demyx finished playing a piece on his sitar. She has been listening to him for two straight hours, completely forgetting that this man was one of her captors.

"That was great Demyx!" she exclaimed truthfully. "Encore!" Demyx grinned.

"As you wish!" he complied. Just as the soloist re-applied his fingers to the strings of his instrument to appease his audience, a dark portal appeared. Demyx blanched as Axel stepped forth.

"Well well well…" said Axel. "…looks like you two are having yourselves a blast. How rude of you Demyx, to have a party and not invite me! I'm offended." Demyx quickly rose to his feet, his instrument disappearing in a burst of water.

"A-Axel!" he stammered. "Wh-What are you doing here?" The red-haired Nobody smirked.

"Oh you know, just decided I'd drop in." he said. "Please, don't stop on my account. Continue your little party! The Superior would just _love _to hear about this one." Demyx flinched.

"But you wouldn't do that would you Axel?" he asked nervously. Axel shrugged.

"Do what?" he asked with mock-innocence. He glanced at Vanessa. "If I can recall correctly, wasn't she tied up? Just so I know I'm not crazy."

"Y-Yes." Demyx replied fearfully. "B-But I can explain that!"

"I'm sure you could." said Axel. "But don't explain it to me. Why explain it twice?" Demyx looked as if he could die. Vanessa stood to her feet.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" she cried, coming to her new friend's defense. "I untied my own self; he had nothing to do with it!" Axel reared his head back and laughed.

"Isn't this cute? You two are friends!" he joked. He laughed again. "Chill out Demyx, I was just fooling with ya!" He playfully slapped Demyx on the back, whom almost collapsed from nerves. "You're so uptight man!" He folded his skinny arms and frowned. "But anyway, on to business. Demyx, we have a meeting." The sitar-player sighed with relief as the color slowly made its way back into his face.

"M-Meeting, right!" he said. "See ya later Nessa!" He hastily disappeared into a portal. Axel smirked.

"Looks like you got yourself an ally." he said. "Too bad he's perhaps the worst possible one you could ever hope to make." Vanessa chuckled despite the situation.

"He's a sweet guy." she said. "Bumbling, but sweet. Unlike _you_." Axel chuckled as well.

"Hey, I was just following orders." he said. "The name's Axel by the way. A-X-E-L, got it memorized?" Vanessa rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, whatever…" she muttered. "Vanessa. Nessa for short. Got _that_ memorized?" Axel chuckled again.

"Indeed I shall." he said. "Well, as much as I'd love to stay and chat, I have elsewhere to be."

"Oh damn…" said Vanessa sarcastically. "…how _disappointing_…"

"Isn't it?" Axel retorted lightheartedly. "So instead, someone else will be here to take my place. Someone I guarantee you'll find most engaging. Have fun!" With that, he disappeared in the Darkness. Vanessa rolled her eyes and sat on the ground.

"What a bag of douche…" she mused aloud. "Thank god I don't have to deal with _him_ anymore." Just as she said this, the someone that Axel mentioned appeared. Vanessa gasped and scrambled to her feet.

"Roxas!" she exclaimed. Sure enough, Roxas stood before her, a transfixed, almost mystified, expression plastered on his visage.

"Long time no see." he said softly. Vanessa nodded.

"Yeah." she said. The two Keyblade wielders remained silent for a moment. "Y'know, I never got a chance to thank you."

"Oh, the Heartless thing? It was nothing." said Roxas evenly.

"Why'd you do it?" Vanessa asked curiously.

"I…don't know." Roxas replied. "Just seemed like I should." More silence followed.

"You look like you're about to explode." Vanessa noticed. Roxas flinched.

"Huh?" he said. "Why do you say that?"

"You look like you got a million and one questions you wanna ask." Vanessa replied. Roxas looked down.

"Is it that obvious?"

"Kinda."

"It's just, there are so many questions… I don't even know where to begin."

"I'm telling you right now, I can't answer a single one."

"Huh? How would you know? I didn't even ask yet."

"Because, I'm just as lost as you. I have no idea why I'm here or why I have the Keyblade. Hell, if anything, I'm probably more ignorant about this whole thing than you are." Roxas looked away.

"Oh…" he mumbled, obviously disappointed. Vanessa smiled.

"Hey." she said. Roxas looked up at her. "Don't sweat it alright? We'll find the answers soon."

"How do you know?" asked Roxas skeptically.

"I just do." said Vanessa, "My heart says so." Roxas took on a look of indignation.

"Some of us don't have that luxury…" he mumbled bitterly. Vanessa faltered.

"Oh snap!" she exclaimed. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt your feelings!" Roxas said nothing. "Roxas, I'm sorry. Please don't be mad. I wasn't trying to be condescending; it just came out wrong."

"Its ok." said Roxas. He offered a small smile. "Your name's Vanessa right?"

"Nessa for short." she replied. "Though, I don't know why I even bother to say that since the only person I've ever known to call me Nessa is Demyx." Roxas chuckled.

"I'll call you Nessa if you want me to." he offered. Vanessa laughed.

"Naw, you call me what you will." she said. "Nessa, Vanessa, different name, same result. Now, formalities aside, why the hell did you guys kidnap me?" Roxas flinched at Vanessa's sudden change in demeanor. He noticed that her eyes held a smoldering flame of anger that was just underneath the surface of her post-cheery disposition.

"For your Keyblade." said Roxas truthfully. "That's all I know." Vanessa held out her hand and summoned her Keyblade. She held it up to the light for a moment before hurling it across her cell. It slammed against the bars, causing Roxas to jump back in alarm.

"If that's all, take it." she said. "I don't want it anymore. It's been nothing but trouble for me since the beginning anyway."

"Vanessa…" said Roxas. "…you can't just throw away your Keyblade. Believe me, I know. It chose us for a reason, and whatever the reason is, it's not gonna let go of us anytime soon." Right on cue, Vanessa's cast weapon returned to her hand in a wisp of light, much to her chagrin. "See? It's not that easy." Vanessa smiled wryly.

"It never is isn't it?" she stated more than asked. She frowned. "What's gonna happen now?"

"I don't know." said Roxas. "I guess you're just gonna start working for us."

"By doing what exactly?"

"Same thing I do, collecting hearts."

"By defeating the Heartless right?"

"Yeah."

"So you can complete Kingdom Hearts."

"For someone who's so ignorant, you sure know a lot more than you should."

"But why?"

"Huh?"

"What are you planning on doing with it once it's completed?"

"Well, Xemnas says that we can use it to restore our hearts."

"Really?"

"That's what he said. I'm not really sure about the whole thing, but I never really ask questions."

"That's dumb."

"Huh?"

"I said that's dumb. You should really check the motives of your clientele before you start whoring out your services." Roxas blinked.

"You're…" he began.

"Weird, yes I know." Vanessa finished for him. Roxas smiled.

"Well, I wasn't gonna say _that_ exactly; more like 'odd', but yeah, basically." he admitted. "I don't get it, but I guess it's just a Somebody-thing." Vanessa furrowed her brows.

"A _Somebody_-thing?" she asked.

"That's what we call normal people with hearts." Roxas explained. "Somebodies." Vanessa shrugged.

"I could've thought of that." she said. She grinned. "But no, it's not a 'Somebody-thing'. It's a _me_-thing. Heart or no heart, I am what I is." Roxas turned perplexed.

"Ok, now I'm confused." he said. Vanessa laughed.

"As you should be!" she said. Roxas sighed.

"Axel was right…" he said. "…people with hearts _are_ complicated." Vanessa laughed again.

"Heart or no heart, I'm complicated regardless!" she said. "Just remember this phrase if you remember nothing else I say: I am who I am. That'll explain 99% of all my eccentricities."

"And the other 1%?" Roxas inquired. Vanessa grinned.

"First rule of reality…" she replied. "…there's no such thing as that extra 1%."

"Huh?" said Roxas, even more confused than ever. He folded his arms. "Now I'm just _lost_." Vanessa just shook her head and waved him off.

"Don't worry about it." she said. "It's just one of the many things you'll have to deal with in being my friend."

"Friend?" asked Roxas.

"Well yeah." said Vanessa. "I mean, we held a decent conversation for almost ten minutes now. _And_, we'll see each other again. _And_, we both seem to have the same lot in life. It'd be strange if we _weren't_ friends!" Roxas nodded.

"Makes sense to me." he said. Vanessa smiled and held out her hand through the bars.

"So, friends?" she asked. Roxas smiled as well and took her hand in his.

"Friends." he agreed.


	16. Enslaved

Author's Note: Hey guys! If you're reading this, congratulations, you are officially at the halfway mark of the story! Just 15 more chapters to go! I know, you feel so accomplished... Anyway, to celebrate this special moment, I'm going to do for you my readers...absolutely nothing! Yay! Lol, I'm just kidding. I mean, I'm not gonna do anything _today_, but I'll think of a treat. Maybe... Enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

**Warning: This chapter contains some block text. Readers' discretion advised.**

Chapter 16: Enslaved

_Vanessa walked aimlessly down a dark path. She did not know where she was going, or even why she was walking in the first place. Something just compelled her to keep moving forward, so that is what she did. Riku appeared ahead of her, his back turned to her. She shouted his name, but he did not seem to hear. She ran to catch up to him, but just as she came close, the ground beneath her feet gave way. She managed to grab onto Riku's blindfold before she fell. It slipped off in her hand. Riku noticed the disturbance and turned around. He held his hand out to her, but she could not grab him in time. Vanessa screamed soundlessly as she fell into the dark abyss below. She landed in a river of liquid Darkness. She thrashed around as she struggled to stay afloat as the current carried her away. Soon, she came to an overpass where Naminé stood. She reached out to Vanessa, but could not get to her. She disappeared in the Darkness as Vanessa passed by. Suddenly, Vanessa was thrown off the face of a waterfall. She continued to fall through the Darkness. The scene changed as she fell. Instead of the dark void, she was in a plain white room with thirteen high chairs. Thirteen cloaked figures of varying sizes sat in each chair. They stared indifferently at Vanessa as she fell further and further away from them. When she was significantly far away, one of the cloaked figures removed its hood. It was Roxas. He jumped from his chair and fell towards Vanessa. When he was just beside her, he became swallowed in Darkness for a split second, re-emerging as Sora. He grinned at Vanessa and summoned his Keyblade. With one swift motion, he stabbed her in the heart._

Vanessa woke up screaming in terror. She panted heavily as she frantically patted her self down. When she was satisfied that she was alright, she sighed.

"That was a freaking scary dream!" she thought. She shook her head. "What did it mean?" She sat up and yawned.

"Is it morning yet?" she wondered. There were no windows in her cell and she did not have a watch. She could tell neither the time, nor the days. She could have only been there for a day, or several days; either way, she would not have known. Time seemed to not exist here, where ever she was.

"I can't still be in Twilight Town…" Vanessa mused. "…can I?" Before she could think further on the subject, a cloaked and hooded man appeared from the Darkness.

"So you're awake!" observed the man, the same one who kidnapped Vanessa before. "Saves me some trouble!" Vanessa threw a harsh glare his way.

"Screw you!" she shouted. The man threw up his hands defensively.

"Whoa whoa! Language there little missy!" he joked. He folded his arms. "That's no way to talk to your elders; how rude!" Vanessa flipped him off. The man chuckled. "Didn't your mother ever teach you some manners?"

"Yeah, she taught me manners alright…" said Vanessa coldly. "…but I doubt 'kidnappers' fall under the spectrum of decorum." The man chuckled again.

"Ah touché, touché!" he said. "You're quite the character little missy!"

"Stop calling me that!" Vanessa demanded.

"What? Little missy?" the man asked. "Aww, why not? I think it's a cute nickname!" Vanessa rolled her eyes.

"Whatever…" she muttered. "…what the hell do you want?"

"The Superior wants to speak with you." the man replied.

"The Superior?" Vanessa asked. "Who's he?"

"He's the big kahuna and my boss…" said the man. "…and also, the decider of your fate." Vanessa flinched.

"So he's the main guy?" she asked. "The one who ordered you to kidnap me?"

"That's the guy!" said the man. "Numero uno himself!" He held his hand out to the cell. The bars turned transparent. "Come along now, don't wanna keep him waiting!" Vanessa cautiously phased through the bars. With the wave of the same hand, he opened up a dark portal.

"Can't we walk?" Vanessa requested. "Those portals make me sick, so unless you want a puke-makeover…"

"Taken care of!" said the man. He pulled out a black coat. "Ta-dah! Your very own coat! Protects against all forms of Darkness, wind, and precipitation except for hail!" Vanessa warily took hold of the coat.

"Are you serious?" she said. She examined the coat and sighed. "Fine." She slipped on the garment and zipped it up. "How do I look?"

"It suits you." said the man honestly. He gestured towards the portal. "In ya go!" Vanessa took a deep breath and stepped inside the Darkness. She held it for several moments before letting it loose in the form of a long sigh of relief.

"Phew, I can breath!" she exclaimed. She twirled around. "These things really work!"

"Hey, we wouldn't be wearing 'em if they didn't." the man remarked. "Let's go." Vanessa followed the strange hooded man through the dark, empty space until he stopped. He opened another portal and promptly exited the area, Vanessa following suit. When she stepped out, she was atop an altar-like platform. Kingdom Hearts shone gallantly just above her head. Not far ahead, she saw another cloaked man with long silver hair looking up at the sky. His back was turned to his guests.

"Good work Number II." said the other man in a deep, dragging voice. "You are dismissed." The man known as 'Number II' gave Vanessa a playful nudge.

"Good luck!" he said before disappearing. Vanessa gulped and stared at the man she was left alone with.

"So he's the big boss…" she mused to herself. The silence was stifling. With each passing moment, Vanessa grew more and more apprehensive. The quiet crushed her breath. Finally, the man broke it.

"Isn't it marvelous?" he asked. He held his hands to the sky. "Kingdom Hearts, the ultimate source of all hearts' power." He turned to face Vanessa, allowing her to notice his features. His complexion was a dark tan, only one shade lighter than hers. His amber eyes were narrow and piercing. He was tall and built broadly across the chest and shoulders. His face held no emotion. "You wield the Keyblade, do you not?" Vanessa nodded.

"Y-Yes." she said shakily.

"Show me." the man requested. Vanessa summoned her Keyblade and held it out to the man. He did not approach to take it, only observed from afar. "Good." The Keyblade disappeared.

"What do you want from me?" Vanessa asked. "Why did you bring me here?" The mysterious man turned his back to her and looked up at the sky.

"Your Keyblade holds a tremendous power…" he said. "…one that will prove very useful to me." Vanessa folded her arms.

"Yeah yeah, so you can collect hearts, I've heard it all before." she said impatiently. "But why _me_?" The man turned back to face her. His face remained expressionless, but his eyes showed a trace of surprise.

"How is it that you've come to know this?" he asked. Vanessa waved him off.

"Does it really matter?" she asked. The man smirked.

"Perhaps not." he said. "If you already know, there's no point in explaining."

"But you still didn't answer my question!" Vanessa exclaimed. "Why me?"

"As you can well imagine, Keyblade wielders are very hard to come by." the man explained. "With the Keyblade master no where to be found, the supply of hearts has dropped immensely. Why have only one Keyblade, when I can have two?"

"Doesn't it bother you that I'm not a Nobody?"

"Why should it? Heart or no heart, your purpose is essentially the same."

"Which is?"

"To defeat the Heartless."

"But I don't give a damn about the Heartless! I'd rather have nothing to do with them if I can help it!"

"But it _can't_ be helped."

"Says you! What makes you think I won't bail the first chance I get?"

"The fact that we can find you, and drag you back here all the same. Besides, you wouldn't want anything to happen to your _friends_ would you?" Vanessa gasped.

"H-Hayner, Pence, Olette…" she said. She clenched her fists. "You bastard!" The man smirked again.

"Have we a deal then?" he asked. Vanessa gritted her teeth. The second to last thing she wanted to do was work for this man, getting her friends hurt being the last. She bowed her head in defeat.

"I'll do it…" she muttered. The man nodded.

"Excellent." he said.

"…but I won't like it." Vanessa added.

"I don't expect you to." the man retorted. He turned his back to her once more. "I thank you in advance for your help." Vanessa said nothing in risk she would lash out and say things that would not help her situation. "You are dismissed." Vanessa whirled around and bolted for the exit. She flew down the stairway that she found herself in. When she reached the bottom, she slumped on the steps and buried her head in her knees. She did not cry, though she wanted to. She refused to. Instead, she trembled violently with fury, fear, and hopelessness. Her skin marooned as a result of the intensity of her emotions, her temperature flared. Soon, all of her emotions blended into blind rage. She wanted to hit something or someone if she could, to destroy, to kill. She gasped at her last thought. Her incredible anger frightened her. All of it melted into inconsolable despair. Finally, the floodgates sprang loose. She held her head down and cried sorrowfully. Her sobs echoed along the walls, mocking her, making her feel even worse. She cried harder. She cried until she could cry no more. When she was finally finished, she pulled herself together and attempted to stand, but a splitting headache and vertigo forced her back on the steps. She closed her eyes and rested her body across them. She thought of her home, of the race, and of her mother. She thought of her friends, of Naminé, and Hayner, and Pence, and Olette. Lastly, she thought of Sora, and Kairi, and of Riku. Riku's smile and his eyes shining brightly at her was the last thing she thought before sleep took her over.


	17. The Icing On the Cake

Author's Note: I'm starting to get the feeling that nobody reads these... And why not? Some of my best jokes go in here! Nah, I'm kidding, but sometimes important info goes into these notes! Well, not really _imortant_ so much as it is _useful_ but....oh screw it, on with the story!

Disclaimer: I _know_ no one reads these!

Chapter 17: The Icing On the Cake

Vanessa groaned as she slowly came to. The ground felt soft under her touch. She gripped onto something that felt like cloth. She opened her eyes and sat up. She noticed that she was in bed.

"Huh?" she said. She held her throbbing head. "Ugh, what happened?" She looked around. "Where am I?" She climbed to her feet and opened the door. She stepped out into the hallway and stretched.

"What time is it?" she wondered.

"Vanessa!" called a voice. She turned her attention to the origin to see Roxas rushing up to her. "You're awake."

"'Sup Roxas?" Vanessa greeted with a grin. "It's morning?"

"If you can call it that." said Roxas. "The sun never shines here." Vanessa furrowed her brows.

"Never ever?" she asked. Roxas shook his head in the negative. "Well damn, where are we anyway?"

"The World That Never Was." Roxas answered. "Right now, we're in the Castle That Never Was." Vanessa made a face. "It's called that because it doesn't really exist, or _something_ like that. I don't really get it either." Vanessa just waved it off.

"Right." she said. She rubbed her hands together. "So, what's on today's agenda?"

"Well, we have to see if Saïx has any missions for us." replied Roxas. "Come on." Vanessa followed him through the halls of the castle.

"Saïx is that elf-dude right?" she asked. Roxas laughed.

"The ears right?" he said. "Yeah, that's him. Number VII."

"Number VII? What is that, a rank?"

"Basically. I'm Number XIII since I was the last to join."

"How _did_ you join this place anyway?"

"I don't really remember. In fact, I don't remember anything about the first week I was here. Axel said I acted like a zombie the entire time…"

"You two are close right? You and Axel?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Just seemed that way. What rank is he?"

"Number VIII."

"And your boss is Number I right?"

"Yeah."

"What's his name again?"

"Xemnas."

"Who's Number II?"

"That's Xigbar."

"How about III?"

"Xaldin."

"IV?"

"Vexen. Well, actually, he's been eliminated. In fact, Numbers IV, V, VI, XI, and XII are all no longer with us."

"What happened to them?"

"I'm not exactly sure. All I know is that they've been eliminated."

"So they're dead?"

"You can call it that." Finally, the two arrived in a white room with a large window as the front wall. One both sides of the room were couches and coffee tables, giving it a lounge-like appearance. To the front was Saïx. He turned his attention from the window to acknowledge the Keyblade wielders.

"Good morning Number XIII." he said. He glanced at Vanessa. "And you too, Vanessa."

"Morning to you too." she greeted back.

"I have assignments set up for you for the next few days." said Saïx, getting straight down to business. "They are all assessment missions; how well you do on them will determine the difficulty of your missions in the future." He looked at Roxas. "Number XIII will accompany you on these missions." Vanessa smiled, obviously pleased.

"Ok, lay it on me!" she said excitedly. "What do I have to do first?"

"For your first assignment, you and Roxas will be in Twilight Town. Your task is to defeat Heartless and collect as many hearts as your stamina allows." Vanessa faltered.

"D-Did you say T-Twilight Town?" she stammered.

"Is this a problem?" asked Saïx. Vanessa shook her head.

"N-No…" she muttered. The elf-eared man smirked.

"I know all about your connections there." he said. "Do not even think about escaping." Vanessa flinched.

"I-I wasn't!" she exclaimed defensively. Saïx said nothing. Instead, he opened up a dark portal.

"You may begin when you're ready." he said. On that note, he turned back to the window. Vanessa sighed and stared at her feet.

"What a slap in the face…" she thought. "…not only am I being forced to do this against my will, I have to do it in the very place I was _kidnapped_ from!" She felt Roxas place a hand on her shoulder.

"You ready?" he asked. Vanessa sighed.

"Let's get this over with." she said. She followed Roxas into the portal. When they reappeared, they were in Twilight Town's station area. The place seemed deserted.

"Ok." said Roxas as he summoned his Keyblade. "All we have to do is collect hearts until we get tired." Vanessa summoned her Keyblade as well.

"Sounds simple enough." she said.

"Oh, but only certain types of Heartless actually drop hearts." Roxas remarked. "Pureblood Heartless don't drop hearts, only the artificial ones do."

"What the heck are you _talking_ about?" asked Vanessa, highly confused. Suddenly, a group of Heartless appeared.

"See, look." said Roxas, pointing at the dark creatures. "Those are called Shadows. They're Pureblood Heartless. Watch this." Roxas quickly dispatched the creatures. They disappeared in puffs of black smoke. "See? No hearts." Vanessa groaned.

"You mean there are different kinds?" she asked, annoyed. "So which kind do we have to defeat?"

"You'll just have to defeat all that you see and hope that they're the kind that drops hearts." said Roxas. "That's how I do it at least." Vanessa groaned again.

"That sounds like a helluva lot of work…" she complained. Roxas laughed.

"You sound a lot like Demyx." he commented. Vanessa raised her brow, but before she could offer a rebuttal, more Shadows appeared, followed by a floating red Heartless. It bore a peculiar heart-shaped insignia on its chest.

"You see that Heartless over there?" said Roxas, pointing to the odd one out. "That's called a Scarlet Tango. It's an artificial Heartless."

"So it has a heart?" Vanessa inquired. Roxas nodded. She grinned and held her Keyblade at the ready. "That's what I'm talking about! I'll get that one; you take care of the Shadow-things." They split up and did just that. Vanessa jumped up and swatted the Scarlet Tango to the ground, injuring it. In response, a small fireball appeared on the tip of its antenna. Vanessa's eyes widened.

"It can shoot _fire_?" she exclaimed, bewildered.

"Vanessa! Look out!" Roxas cried. Thanks to his warning, Vanessa was able to dodge the in-coming fireball. She attacked it once more, defeating it. A tiny pink heart floated up in the sky before disappearing from sight. Vanessa grinned.

"Oh yeah, I kick ass!" she boasted. Roxas nodded.

"Ok, that's one." he said. "Let's see if you can get at least ten. That's how much I had to get when I first started."

"Ten huh?" said Vanessa. She smirked. "Bet I can get more!" Roxas grinned.

"You're on!" he said, accepting the challenge. For the next couple of hours, the two Keyblade wielders fought wave after wave of Heartless. Most of them were Shadows, but occasionally Scarlet Tangos and Yellow Operas appeared. Roxas allowed Vanessa to defeat them until her quota was filled before the real competition began. For the next hour after that, Roxas shifted from helping Vanessa, to preventing her from collecting a single heart past her initial ten. She put up a good fight, but eventually she collapsed from exhaustion.

"Looks like I win." said Roxas. Vanessa glared at him as she panted heavily.

"Up…yours…" she said between breaths. Roxas laughed.

"At least you got your ten." he said. "Ready for the icing on the cake?"

"Icing on the cake?" Vanessa repeated. "What's that?"

"Meet me on the top of the clock tower at the station." said Roxas. Before Vanessa could make further inquiries, Roxas rushed off to an unknown destination. Vanessa sighed and made her way to the station. When she arrived, she began her ascent to the roof of the tower. When she finally made it, she sat on the ledge. She gasped. The view of the sunset was breath-taking, as if she had a front row seat to the horizon. Roxas appeared on the tower soon after.

"This is amazing!" Vanessa exclaimed. "Look at that sunset! Have you ever seen a prettier one in your life?" Roxas smiled and sat next to her.

"It is kinda nice." he agreed. He pulled out three bars of blue ice cream. "Here you go." Vanessa accepted her treat.

"What flavor's this?" she asked.

"Sea-salt." Roxas replied. Vanessa wrinkled her face in disgust. "Don't knock it 'til you try it." Vanessa took a lick.

"Phee!" she cried. "S-Salty!" Roxas laughed.

"Keep tasting it." he suggested. Vanessa did as she was told. Her expression changed to one of amazement.

"It's sweet!" she said. "Wow! This ain't half bad! What's it again? Sea-salt?"

"Yeah." said Roxas. Suddenly, Axel appeared from around the corner of the tower. He smirked.

"Well well well, look whose here." he teased. Vanessa glowered and turned away from him.

"Well if it ain't Axel." she said bitterly.

"You remembered! I'm flattered." said Axel as he took his seat on the ledge. He took a bite of the ice cream Roxas gave him. "How was your mission?"

"It was great." said Roxas. "Vanessa did a pretty good job."

"That's good to hear." said Axel. He glanced at Vanessa. "So, how many hearts did you collect?" Vanessa folded her arms and looked away from him.

"I'm not talking to you." she said tersely. Axel smirked.

"This is the thanks I get for putting you to bed?" he said in mock-hurt. "That's real sweet of you." Vanessa looked at him.

"What do you mean?" she demanded.

"I found you passed out on the stairs in Twilight's View…" Axel explained. "…and because I'm such a nice guy, I couldn't just let you sleep on the floor, so I put you to bed."

"It's true." Roxas confirmed. "I saw him carrying you." Vanessa looked down.

"Really?" she said guiltily. "Gosh, I'm sorry…"

"No problem." said Axel. "It's ok; I don't mind." Vanessa looked back up.

"Can we start over?" she asked. Axel smiled.

"Sure." he said. "A friend of Roxas is a friend of mine." Vanessa smiled as well and admired the beautiful horizon, contemplating adventures to come with her newfound companions.


	18. Cast of Characters

Author's Note: To be perfectly honest, this is just a filler chapter that has little to do with the plot. In fact, you can basically skip it after the line break. But since I know you guys don't read these notes, you probably read it already. Which is fine with me. It takes me two hours to write a chapter, and I'll be damned if you don't read the whole thing! But anyway, I read your reviews for the last chapter and I noticed that you wanted Vanessa to be saved right then and there. If I did have her saved, it wouldn't be a Riku/OC/Roxas story now would it? But enough about that, to the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own KH, KH2, KH FM, KH2 FM, KH2 FM+, KH: CoM or Re:CoM, KH 358/2 Days, or BBS. Damn, Square Enix is just milking it huh?

**Warning: Filler chapter!**

Chapter 18: Cast of Characters

"Riku." said Naminé. Riku said nothing as he sank into an armchair. She walked up to him. "Are you ok?"

"Sure…" he said distantly. "…why wouldn't I be?"

"It's just…" said Naminé. "…with Vanessa gone, I…"

"What?" Riku interrupted callously. "Whatever you wanna say to me Naminé, just say it." Naminé looked down.

"I…" she said, trailing off. "Forget it." She turned away from Riku.

"Naminé." said Riku. "You miss her, don't you?" Naminé flinched. She swallowed before facing him.

"I just can't help but to think this is my fault." she revealed. "If only I stopped her, then maybe…" She sighed. "…maybe she'd still be with us…"

"Naminé." said Riku. "Don't blame yourself. This isn't your fault. Vanessa chose to go out on her own. She chose this for herself."

"But she didn't choose _this_." said Naminé. "She didn't choose to be kidnapped."

"But she knew the danger." Riku argued. "She chose to ignore it."

"I know…" said Naminé. "…but what will we do?"

"Nothing." Riku mumbled.

"N-Nothing?" Naminé repeated with disbelief. "How can you say such a thing Riku? Vanessa is your friend, isn't she?"

"There's nothing that _can_ be done." said Riku.

"There's got to be _something_!" Naminé countered.

"Like _what_?" Riku yelled, springing to his feet. Naminé jumped back in alarm. Riku sighed and sat back down.

"I'm sorry…" he apologized. "…I didn't mean to snap at you. I just…" He sighed again. "…I failed her."

"Why do you say that?" asked Naminé.

"I promised her I would protect her…" said Riku glumly. "I couldn't even do _that_…"

"Riku…" said Naminé softly.

"I've been having this dream…" Riku continued. "…that she was reaching out to me in the Darkness. I tried to grab her hand, but I just couldn't reach her. No matter how fast I ran, or how much I called out to her, she just got farther and farther away, until the Darkness just swallowed her whole." He clenched his fists against his lap. "It was always the same dream every night, up until the day she disappeared. Now I understand what it was trying to say…"

"Riku…"

"Vanessa's lost to the Darkness now, and it's all my fault. It always is…"

"Don't say that Riku. Vanessa wouldn't agree with you."

"How do you know?"

"She just wouldn't." Naminé placed her hand over her non-existent heart. "She just wouldn't…"

* * *

Vanessa sighed and placed her face against the cool glass of the large window in the room she came to know as the Grey Area. She tried to get a peek of the world below, but the angle she was viewing from prevented her. She had just come back from a mission with Roxas in Twilight Town again around an hour ago. They had ice cream on the clock tower again. The sunset was even more dazzling than yesterday. Vanessa smiled for a moment, only to frown.

"I had a perfect opportunity to escape..." she thought. "...why didn't I take it?" She sighed once more, causing fog to appear on the glass.

"I guess I can try tomorrow..." she thought.

"What the heck are you doing?" said a voice, Axel's. Vanessa pulled her face away from the glass and smirked at him.

"I'm trying to see if I can morph through the window." she joked. Axel shook his head.

"Ok. What are you _really_ trying to do?" he asked.

"What is down there?" Vanessa asked. Axel strolled up beside her.

"The Dark City." he said.

"The Dark City…" Vanessa repeated. "Does anyone live there? Like people?" Axel shrugged.

"If they do, I've never seen them." he replied. "But it's filled to the brim with Heartless. Not exactly the ideal place any person would want to live." Vanessa nodded.

"You're telling _me_." she agreed.

"Why so curious?" asked Axel. Vanessa shrugged.

"No reason…" she replied. "…just bored I guess." Axel smirked.

"If you're so bored, why don't you explore the castle for a bit?" he suggested.

"Two reasons…" said Vanessa as she held up two fingers. "…reason one: This castle is freaking huge and I would get hopelessly lost. Reason two: Last time I explored somewhere, I ended up getting kidnapped. Studies suggest that I should just stay put." Axel chuckled.

"Suit yourself." he said. He noticed Roxas walk into the Grey Area. "Roxas! Come here and entertain Vanessa for me, I got something I have to take care of." He disappeared into the Darkness. Roxas walked up to Vanessa.

"Hey." he said. "What was that about?" Vanessa shrugged.

"The heck _I_ know." she said. "Hey, y'know what I just realized? I've yet to meet the entire Organization XIII. Or at least, what's _left_ of it. Think you could introduce me?"

"Oh, uh, sure." said Roxas. "We have to find them first. I'm not exactly sure where everyone is, but we can still look." Vanessa nodded.

"Lead the way captain!" she said. Roxas chuckled and lead her into a portal. When they reappeared, they were in an empty room with a terrace.

"This is the Hall of Empty Melodies." said Roxas. A bullet hole appeared on the ground next to Vanessa's foot. She jumped in surprise.

"What the hell?" she cried. Suddenly, a hail of bullets of purple light rained down upon the unsuspecting Keyblade-wielders.

"Take cover!" shouted Roxas. He and Vanessa quickly dodged the in-coming projectiles. Roxas whipped out his Keyblade and blocked the ones that he could not dodge, all the while protecting Vanessa. He guarded her with his body as he guarded himself with his Keyblade. When the assault ended, laughter could be heard.

"Good one tiger!" it teased. Vanessa's face hardened. She would recognize that voice anywhere.

"You!" she shouted. "Number II!" Number II laughed.

"Please, call me Xigbar!" he said. He appeared on the terrace above them. Since his hood was down, Vanessa could see his features. He had a scarred face and a darkened complexion. An eye-patch covered one of his sallow yellow eyes. He had extremely long dark hair streaked with gray that was pulled back into a ponytail. "And what brings you two kiddies to my lair?"

"Why'd you attack us?" demanded Roxas. Xigbar laughed.

"I wanted to see how well you two could dance!" he teased.

"You prick!" Vanessa shouted. "You could've killed us you crazy bastard!" Xigbar smirked.

"Language little missy!" he said. "There are kids here! But anyway, what can I do you for?"

"Vanessa wanted to meet everyone in the Organization." said Roxas. "I thought she didn't meet you yet, but apparently I was wrong." Xigbar smirked.

"Aww, you wanted to visit little ol' me?" he joked. "I'm flattered!" Vanessa rolled her eyes.

"Don't bet on it…" she muttered.

"Do you know where Xaldin is?" asked Roxas. Xigbar pensively held his chin.

"Hmm, that's a toughie…" he mused. He turned his back to them. "Let's see, Xaldin, Xaldin… Where might he be?" He snapped his fingers and turned back to face them. "Try the library. That was the last place _I_ saw him." He smirked. "You two be good now!" He disappeared.

"What a creep." said Vanessa. Roxas smiled apologetically.

"I didn't know you already met him." he said. "Sorry about that." Vanessa grinned.

"No problem!" she said. "Thanks for saving me back there; if it was just me, I would've been toast!" Roxas grinned as well.

"You're welcome." he said. He opened a portal. "Come on, let's go meet Xaldin." They arrived at the library. It appeared to be deserted.

"Xaldin!" Roxas called. There was no reply. "Number III!" Still no reply. He groaned. "Figures…"

"What's up?" asked Vanessa. Roxas sighed.

"I think Xigbar pulled a fast one on us." he said. Vanessa shook her head.

"I knew it was too easy…" she mumbled. Suddenly, someone appeared from the Darkness. It was a man with jet-black dreadlocks that fell down his back. Along the sides of his pale face was a combination of sideburns and muttonchops. His eyes were a clear, bright blue that contrasted greatly with the color of his hair.

"Roxas, what a pleasant surprise." said the man in a voice that Vanessa did not expect from a man that looked like him. He smirked at her. "And you, my dear, must be Vanessa, the other Keyblade wielder. At last we meet. I am Xaldin."

"Uh, nice to meet you." said Vanessa, not knowing what else to say.

"I must say, you do not look quite the way I expected." said Xaldin. Vanessa faltered.

"O-Oh…" she said awkwardly. "Uh..." She gave Roxas a pleading look.

"I'm taking Vanessa to meet everyone in the castle." said Roxas, coming to her aid. "You were next on the list." Xaldin chuckled softly.

"Is that so?" he stated more than asked. "Well, here I am, in all my splendor. It was a pleasure to finally meet you face to face Vanessa. I do hope you prove useful to our cause, even if you are a Somebody." Vanessa gulped and nodded.

"Yeah." she said. "I'll be sure to do just that. Come on Roxas!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him to the exit. When they were outside, she shivered.

"Forget Xigbar, _that_ was a true creeper right there!" Vanessa complained. She shivered again. "Ugh, he reminds me of the boogeyman!" Roxas laughed.

"Yeah, he's kinda weird." he admitted.

"_Kinda_?" Vanessa asked. "No, _I'm_ 'kinda' weird. Demyx is 'kinda' weird. Hell, even _you're_ 'kinda' weird. But that? _That_ was _off the freaking charts_ weird!" Roxas laughed again.

"Ok ok, you're right." he said. "Come one, let's go meet Luxord. He's a little bit more normal than Xaldin." Vanessa sighed with relief.

"That's good to know." she remarked. Roxas transported them to halls were the rooms were located. He knocked on the door bearing the mark 'X'.

"Who goes there?" called the voice of a man from the inside.

"Roxas." said Roxas. The door opened to reveal a tall man with short, ice-blond hair and green eyes. He had a clean mustache and a beard, and three gold earrings in one ear.

"Roxas my lad!" he said in a peculiar, British accent. He glanced at Vanessa. "And company too! You must be Vanessa. I am Luxord. A pleasure it is to meet you." He took Vanessa's hand and kissed it, causing her dark skin to blush violet-red.

"Um, nice to meet you too." she said, snatching her hand away. She turned to Roxas. "Well, that takes care of that! Let's go!" She grabbed Roxas again and dragged him away from Luxord's door towards a different hallway. When they were out of Luxord's range of hearing, Vanessa sighed.

"You sure live with a lot of weirdoes." said Vanessa. Roxas smirked.

"Then you should feel right at home." he joked. Vanessa smacked him on the shoulder. "Hey!"

"That wasn't funny Roxas!" she scolded. She laughed. "Ok, maybe a _little_ funny, but don't do it again!" Roxas nodded.

"Ok." he said. "Well, that's everyone. You met Xemnas, you know Axel, you know Saïx, Demyx, and Xigbar, and you just met Xaldin and Luxord, so yeah. That's everyone." He yawned. "Well, I'm kinda tired. I'm gonna go to sleep. See ya tomorrow."

"Good night Roxas." said Vanessa as she watched him slipped into his room. She sighed and retired to her own room. She lay on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. She sighed again.

"How am I supposed to get along with these people?" she mumbled to the air. She closed her eyes. Sora's sleeping face appeared in her mind.

"He looks so much like him." she mused. Vanessa slowly opened her eyes to stare at the ceiling once more.

"Riku..." she muttered. "...where are you?"


	19. Suicide Mission

Author's Note: Another filler, but it's an _epic_ filler. I'm still glad for the continuing support!

Disclaimer: If I stop putting these, will anyone really notice?

**Warning: EPIC filler alert. Epic as in fight scene!**

Chapter 19: Suicide Mission

Vanessa stretched and yawned as she entered the Grey Area. There, she was met by Axel and Roxas.

"Morning guys!" she greeted. Axel waved.

"Morning." he said. "You look like you had a good night's sleep."

"Man I slept like a log!" Vanessa joked. She smiled at Roxas. "Morning partner!"

"Good morning." Roxas greeted back. "Today's your last assessment mission." Vanessa leapt for joy.

"Woohoo!" she cried. "Finally! After a whole week of those weird, baby missions, I'm finally done!"

"If that is what you feel, you'll be pleased to know that this next mission is far from a _baby_ mission." said Saïx. Vanessa stopped celebrating and turned her attention to him. "This is your final test. Your task is to defeat a giant Heartless called a Darkside that has been attacking Twilight Town." Vanessa gulped.

"A g-giant Heartless?" she said shakily.

"You're not _scared_ are you?" Axel teased.

"Hell yeah I'm scared!" Vanessa admitted shamelessly. "I can't take on a _giant_ Heartless by myself! I can barely take on the Heartless that are half _my_ size!"

"Don't worry…" said Roxas. "…I'll be there too." Vanessa breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh good." she said. "For a second there, I thought I'd be going this alone!" Axel chuckled.

"Course not." he said. "Saïx would never _intentionally_ put us in harms way, _right_ Saïx?" Number VII just grunted. Vanessa furrowed her brows.

"You said that _way_ too sarcastically for my liking." she said. "This isn't a suicide mission is it?" Axel laughed.

"Don't be ridiculous!" he assured her. "I was just being funny. Don't worry about it; I'm sure you'll do great." He ruffled Roxas's hair. "And I'm sure Roxas here'll make sure you come out ok!" Roxas swatted Axel's hand away and smoothed his hair back into place.

"It'll be ok." he said. "You'll be fine. I won't let anything bad happen to you." Vanessa smiled.

"Well, when you put it that way…" she said. "…ok, I'm game!" She turned to Saïx. "Ready!" Saïx smirked and opened a portal.

"Do not underestimate your opponent." he said. "But also, do not underestimate your strength." Vanessa gave a salute.

"Yes sir!" she said. She disappeared into the portal. When she reappeared, she found herself in Twilight Town's station area. Roxas followed not too far behind.

"So, where's this giant Heartless?" she asked.

"I don't know…" said Roxas. "…Saïx said it'd be right here." Just as he finished his sentence, the ground began to shake. An incredible rumble reverberated across the sky as a giant pool of Darkness appeared on the ground. Vanessa's eyes widened with sheer terror as she witnessed a gigantic creature rise from the ground. Its massive, humanoid body was pitch-black with Darkness. Its torso was hollowed out in the shape of a heart.

"Oh _hell_ no!" Vanessa shouted over the noise. "We have to fight _that_?" Roxas summoned his Keyblade.

"Come on!" he commanded. He rushed into battle against the colossal beast. Vanessa shivered and summoned her own Keyblade. She reluctantly joined the fight and followed Roxas's lead by attacking the hands. The Darkside reared its fist above its head as it prepared to strike.

"Look out!" cried Roxas. Vanessa jumped away from the Darkside in time to avoid being punched into the ground. As a result of its attack, a massive shockwave was sent hurtling towards the Keyblade wielders, whom were able to successfully jump to avoid it. They resumed their assault on the Darkside's hands.

"God, what'll it take for this thing to go down?" exclaimed Vanessa. After a full minute of a barrage of attacks, exhaustion forced Vanessa to stop and catch her breath. Roxas joined her side.

"You ok?" he asked. Vanessa nodded as she panted.

"Yeah…" she breathed. "…just give me a minute to get it together." Roxas smirked.

"Your endurance is something you gotta work on." he critiqued. "You can't get tired mid-fight." Vanessa rolled her eyes.

"Thanks for the advice." she said sarcastically. The Darkside's heart-shaped hole in its chest began to glow. Suddenly, two pale blue orbs of energy burst forth and hurtled towards the two. "Break time's over." Vanessa and Roxas simultaneously swung their Keyblades at the orbs, knocking them back towards the Heartless's head. It screeched in pain. It sent four more orbs that were ultimately sent back. Next, it sent six. Vanessa was able to return two of the three that came after her, but the third she missed. She cried out as the orb knocked her back. She gritted her teeth.

"That freaking _hurt_!" she complained.

"Are you ok?" asked Roxas. Vanessa's eyes widened.

"Look out!" she cried. Roxas barely had time to react as the Darkside brought its hand down upon him. He was able to avoid the brunt of the attack, but was injured in the process. Vanessa rushed to her fallen comrade and tried to help him to his feet. Unfortunately, they forgot about the shockwave that followed the attack. They both cried out in pain as the wave washed over them, capturing them and draining their energy. When the shockwave dissipated, Vanessa and Roxas were on the ground, both extremely weak.

"Ugh…" said Vanessa as she struggled to her feet. "That thing's no joke…" Roxas stood as well.

"Its attacks are getting stronger." he said. "Good news: It's on its last leg. Bad news: It's using its limit attacks."

"Is that bad?" asked Vanessa.

"Very." Roxas replied. "We have to take it out quick before it can use anymore attacks. Lucky for us, since we're kinda weak ourselves, we can use limit attacks too." Vanessa made a face.

"What?" she said confusedly. Roxas held out his Keyblade. Suddenly, a flash of light burst from his body. He and his Keyblade began to glow. He aimed his weapon at the Darkside's head and shot a beam of Light at it. The attack connected, significantly damaging the creature. With a speed Vanessa did not know he possessed, Roxas rushed up to the Darkside and relentlessly attacked it. He was moving so fast that he was nothing but a yellow and black blur in Vanessa's eyes. Just as quickly as it came, Roxas's newfound strength disappeared. He fell back to rejoin Vanessa.

"That was amazing!" Vanessa exclaimed. "How'd you do that?" Roxas tried to answer, but instead collapsed onto his knee. "Roxas!" Vanessa held him up. He was panting heavily and looked pale.

"That was my limit break…" explained Roxas between breathes. "…it gives you a lot of power, but it drains most of your energy."

"Can I use it too?" Vanessa asked. Roxas nodded. "How?"

"Focus on the Keyblade…" said Roxas. "…and it'll do the rest." Vanessa set Roxas on the ground and held out her Keyblade. She closed her eyes and focused. She could feel her Keyblade's power coursing through her body. When she opened her eyes, she saw that she was glowing. She smirked.

"Ok Heartless!" Vanessa cried. "I'm about to open up a can of whoop-ass on you, so say your prayers bitch!" She rushed towards the Darkside with immense speed and attacked it on all sides. The creature howled in confusion and pain. Vanessa jumped back and prepared herself for a final attack. As swift as lightning, she rushed the creature and slashed through it. The Darkside shrieked a final time as it dissolved in wisps of Darkness before evaporating into nothingness. A huge pink heart emerged from the creature's remains and floated into the sky before disappearing into thin air. Vanessa smiled.

"Oh yeah…" she breathed. "…I…kick…ass…" She collapsed to the ground exhausted, drained, and in pain. "Roxas?"

"Yeah?" he replied from his own spot on the ground.

"No one'll miss us if we just lay here for a few minutes, probably a couple of hours, right?" said Vanessa. Roxas chuckled weakly.

"Not after a few hours no." he said.

"Good…" said Vanessa. "…'cause I think I'm gonna pass out now…"

"That's ok…" said Roxas. "…me too… Hey, Vanessa?"

"Yeah?" she replied.

"You did great today." Roxas complimented. Vanessa smiled.

"Thanks…" she said faintly. "…that…that means…a lot…" She trailed off as a wave of darkness washed over her.


	20. Promise

Author's Note: Hello again my fellow loyal readers! It's Amor here keeping it coming with them fillers! But of course you guys wouldn't mind, I mean, I could _never _drive you guys away with something as insignificant as dragging on a story right? Right? _Right_? Anyway, sorry for the cliffy, but every great writer knows that you should always leave your audience hanging to keep 'em crawling back for more (a.k.a: dickery)! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Vanessa: Sup guys! Amor got piss-tired of this bull-sugar, so she sent me to do the disclaimer for her! Ahem; she does not own the Kingdom Hearts franchise, but apparently she owns me. All I know is, I swear to god, if I don't get together with Riku soon, I'm gonna...! **End transmission.**

Chapter 20: Promise

_Vanessa stood alone in a dark room. There was nothing in the room except for a lone mirror. She curiously walked up to the mirror to look at her reflection. Instead of a dark-skinned girl, she was met by Sora. He stepped out of the mirror and stood face-to-face with her. Suddenly, Sora split in two. His second half became Roxas. Sora disappeared, leaving Vanessa and Roxas alone. Roxas held his hand out to Vanessa, who took it. Just as she did so, she felt all the energy from her body being drained at once. Too weak to stand, Vanessa collapsed to the ground. She looked up at Roxas, only to see that he was gone. Instead, Riku stood ahead of her. Vanessa reached her hand out to him, only to see it slowly consumed by Darkness. Pain seared through her body as the Darkness crept across her. When she was completely consumed, she felt nothing. She rose to her feet and looked into the mirror one last time. In her reflection she saw two reflections: herself and a Neoshadow. Confused, Vanessa looked to her side. There was no one there. She reached out to touch the mirror. As soon as she did, the glass shattered._

Vanessa woke up with a start, panting. Roxas, whom was also in the room, jumped up in alarm.

"Vanessa!" he exclaimed. "You're awake." Vanessa groaned and held her swimming head.

"Ugh…what happened?" she asked.

"Do you remember what happened?" Roxas asked. Vanessa ran a hand through her beads. The sound of the silver hair-decorations clinking together caused the memories to come flooding back. She gasped.

"The Darkside!" she exclaimed. She furrowed her brows. "We defeated it…by using our limit breaks."

"Yeah." said Roxas, confirming Vanessa's memory. "We passed out afterwards. You just woke up." Vanessa yawned and rubbed her growling stomach.

"How long've I been out?" she asked.

"Three whole days." said Roxas. "We almost didn't think you'd wake up." Vanessa sighed.

"Three days…" she repeated. "Explains why I'm starving like Marvin. When'd you wake up?"

"About two hours after we were found." he said. "Axel said he found us when he tried to meet us for ice cream." Vanessa chuckled.

"Figures." she said. "So, did I miss anything?" Roxas shook his head.

"Nah, nothing important." he said. He smirked. "Besides bathing I mean." Vanessa laughed.

"Oh shut up!" she scolded playfully.

"How are you feeling now?"

"I'll live. You sure I've been out for three days?"

"Positive."

"Hey, what were you doing in my room just now?"

"I was checking up on you. I wanted to make sure that you were ok."

"You mean that I haven't kicked the bucket right?" Vanessa laughed. "I wouldn't do that to you." Roxas faltered.

"Huh?" he said. "What do you mean?" Vanessa shook her head and waved it off.

"Nothing, nothing." she said. She grinned. "I think a celebration is in order." Roxas furrowed his brows.

"Huh? A celebration?" he asked. "For what?"

"For my latest act of bad-assery, duh!" said Vanessa. "I mean didja _see_ me? I was kicking all _types_ of ass in that fight!" Roxas laughed.

"Well, when you put it _that_ way…" he said. "…yeah, I guess that's a reason to celebrate." He opened a portal. "Coming?" Vanessa eagerly hopped out of bed and followed Roxas to the clock tower. She sat on the ledge while waiting for Roxas to get the ice cream. She smiled at the beautiful sunset.

"I've _got_ to get myself some paints." she thought. Roxas appeared next to her. He handed her an ice cream bar and sat down. Vanessa held up the treat. "To being us, 'cause only true bad-asses like us can rape face with a giant key!" Roxas laughed.

"Here here!" he agreed as they toasted their ice creams together before each taking a bite. "Vanessa?"

"Yeah?" she replied. Roxas looked off into the horizon.

"What's it like?" he asked.

"What's what like?" asked Vanessa.

"Y'know, having a heart." Roxas replied.

"Oh." said Vanessa. She thought for a moment. "It's kinda hard to explain."

"Could you try? Please?" Roxas asked, almost begged.

"Well…" said Vanessa. "…it's like…" She racked her brain for the right words. "It's…really confusing actually."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, sometimes it's really hard to monitor all the different feelings that you have. It's like having a full cup that could spill over with the slightest disturbance. At least, that's how it's like for _me_. It depends on the person."

"Are feelings difficult?"

"Difficult? Nah, feelings themselves are quite easy. When you're happy, you're happy. When you're mad, you're mad. It's the _why_ that makes them difficult. Like, why am I so happy all of a sudden, or, why'd I go from being happy to being so sad for that one little thing? The heart is impossible to understand, even if you _do_ have one."

"So, it's possible to have feelings and not understand _why_ you have them?"

"Indubitably my good man."

"That sounds tough to handle…"

"It seems that way, but it's not as hard as I'm making it out to be. Sure, there'll be times when you don't know what the heck's wrong with you, but normally, you'll know your ass from your elbow."

"Huh?"

"Never mind. But feelings aren't _that_ hard. Just a little mystifying."

"I wish I knew what it's like…to feel…"

"What do you mean?"

"Since I don't have a heart, I can't feel."

"Says who?"

"Everyone."

"That's bull-sugar."

"Huh?"

"You can feel Roxas. If you couldn't, you wouldn't have given two cents about me enough to save me all those times you did."

"That's only because I _remember_ how to feel, but I'm not actually feeling."

"I still don't believe that. Why would you fake emotion? What would be the point? After a while, you'd just give up and say, 'Screw it' and just go on and be an emotionless zombie." Roxas frowned.

"You wouldn't understand; you _have_ a heart." he scowled. Vanessa looked at him for a brief moment before shrugging.

"True. I'm not gonna pretend and say I understand, 'cause I don't; you and I both know that." she admitted. "All I can say is what I think, and if what I think is wrong, well, them's the breaks." Roxas looked down.

"I'm sorry…" he said. "…I shouldn't have said that. I hope I didn't offend you…" Vanessa laughed.

"Oh please!" she said. "Don't sweat the small stuff Roxas, you've got enough problems. My philosophy is: This ain't a movie; not everything deserves a scene. Sometimes people make big deals out of little things that don't deserve the weight they give it. I'm not very easy to anger; not with little things like that I mean. Especially if I know I'm wrong or if someone else is right. I just acknowledge it and move on." Roxas smiled.

"There's something about you…" he said. "…I can't put my finger on it, but there's something about you that I admire." Vanessa smiled as well.

"Aww shucks Roxas, you're making me blush!" she teased. Roxas faltered.

"Huh?" he said. Vanessa laughed.

"Is 'huh' your favorite word or something?" she joked. "Expand your lexicon a bit! Try stuff like, 'I beg your pardon?' or 'I'm sorry?' or even, 'What the flim-flam?' or _something_." Roxas laughed.

"You're so weird." he remarked. "I'm glad you're my friend." Vanessa smiled.

"I'm glad you're mine." she said. She looked up at the sky. "Roxas?"

"Yeah?" he replied.

"Can you promise me something?" asked Vanessa.

"Sure." said Roxas. "Anything."

"Promise me…" Vanessa began. "…that no matter what, we'll always be friends." Roxas nodded.

"I promise." he said sincerely. Vanessa held up her pinky.

"Pinky-swear?" she said. Roxas hooked his pinky around Vanessa's. Vanessa's heart quickened its pace when she looked into Roxas's blue eyes. The two stayed like this for a while, gazing into each others eyes, their hands connected to one another. Suddenly, a sharp pain forced Vanessa's hand to her chest. She gritted her teeth and clenched her eyes shut as she silently endured the pain.

"Vanessa?" asked Roxas, worry lacing his voice. "Are you ok?" When the pain subsided, Vanessa sighed.

"Yeah, I'm good." she said. She smiled. "I think that ice cream gave me a bad case of indigestion."

"Oh…" said Roxas. "…ok." He stood to his feet "Well, I guess we should head back to the castle now." Vanessa stood as well.

"Yeah." she agreed. Roxas opened a portal, leading the two back to the castle.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow." said Roxas. "Good night Nessa." Vanessa smiled.

"Night Roxas." she said. When he was gone, she placed her hand over her heart and frowned.

"What was _that_ about?" she wondered.


	21. Widening Rift, Closer Bond

Author's Note: Sup biznatches! I have some good news and some bad news for you guys. The bad news, you're in filler hell! The good news however? Including this one, there's only two more filler chapter left, and after that I can pretty much guarantee the subsequent chapter to be 99% relevant to the plot (remember about that extra 1%).

Disclaimer: Vanessa: How dare she cut me off! Stank heifer! I outta rip you a new...! Huh? Oh right, uh, Amor of Niam, a.k.a. stank heifer, doesn't own Kingdom Hearts.

Chapter 21: Widening Rift, Closer Bond

Naminé stared patiently at Riku as the blindfolded warrior twiddled with his thumbs on the table. So many thoughts were going through his mind at once. He tried to force them down, but the pressure they caused in his chest continued to build. He needed to get it off his chest, the nagging feelings, the thoughts, the _guilt_. He looked up at Naminé.

"I couldn't do it." he blurted out.

"What do you mean?" Naminé inquired. Riku sighed.

"I just couldn't do it…" he repeated. "I tried, I really did, but she…" He paused. "…she just seemed so…happy…" Naminé furrowed her brows.

"Happy?" she inquired. "Why would you say that?" Riku shook his head.

"I was able to intercept her in the Corridor of Darkness…" he explained. "…and I was totally prepared to bring her back. I wanted to, I really did, but then…" He sighed again. "…I just couldn't."

"Why?" asked Naminé.

"She was just so….happy." said Riku. "I've never seen her smile that way around here. Her eyes, they were shining so brightly. She looked like she was where she belonged."

"With the Organization?" Naminé asked skeptically. Riku folded his arms.

"It makes no sense!" he exclaimed with frustration. "It's like she chose them over us!" He gritted his teeth. "Maybe DiZ is right; maybe she really _did_ switch sides…" Naminé gasped.

"Please Riku, don't say that." she said. "Vanessa, she would never…"

"You didn't see." interrupted Riku. "You didn't see what I saw. You didn't see her eyes." He stood to his feet and walked to the door.

"The eyes don't lie." he said before exiting. Naminé sighed and bowed her head.

"Vanessa wouldn't do that…" she mumbled. She looked up at a drawing that she made recently. It featured Vanessa sitting under a sunset. "…would she?"

* * *

Vanessa woke up with the overwhelming feeling that she was late. She did not know why she had this feeling, or if it were true, but it was so strong that she acted on it anyway. She jumped to her feet and quickly slipped on her coat that she had taken off for the night. She bolted down the hallways as fast as her legs could carry her. She sharply rounded a corner, skidding into a wall as she did so. Unfazed, she pushed herself from the wall and burst into the Grey Area. She comically tripped and slid across the floor. Before she could collide into Saïx, she rolled forward onto her feet, mere feet away.

"Safe!" she joked. Saïx glared at her, not amused by her dramatic entry. Vanessa gulped. "I'm not _that_ late am I?"

"Extremely." Saïx deadpanned. "I already sent Roxas out for the mission 20 minutes ago." Vanessa sighed.

"Alright, what's today's task?" she asked. Saïx was about to respond when he noticed something unusual about Vanessa.

"Where in Kingdom Hearts are your shoes?" he demanded. Vanessa furrowed her brows and looked down. Her eyes widened. Sure enough, her feet were left exposed, save for the black socks that she wore. She laughed nervously.

"I didn't even notice!" she admitted sheepishly. Saïx sighed, quite used to Vanessa's antics by now.

"No matter." he said. "You will just have to complete today's mission without them." Vanessa faltered.

"Say _what_?" she exclaimed. "I have to do a _whole_ mission with no freaking shoes? Are you joking?" Saïx said nothing. He opened a dark portal.

"Your mission is to collect hearts with Roxas in the world of Agrabah." he said, completely ignoring Vanessa's question. "As I've said previously, he is already there. Meet up with him when you get there."

"With no shoes?" Vanessa asked.

"With no shoes." Saïx repeated. "Do not be late next time." Vanessa scowled and entered the portal. When she exited, she saw that she was in desert town filled with deserted market stands and sand buildings. Speaking of sand, it was _everywhere_. Huge piles of it collected in every corner, almost against every wall. A steady wind blew, blowing loose sand into the air. The sun beat down relentlessly on her. The sand was hot beneath her feet. It would have been unbearable, if not for her socks.

"Stupid Saïx, making do a whole god damn mission with no god damn shoes on!" she complained as she explored the new world. A cry caused her to jump. What ever it was, it came from further along into the town. Wasting no time, Vanessa rushed forward, Keyblade drawn, to the noise. When she arrived, she saw Roxas fighting off a group of Scarlet Tangos and Fire Plants.

"Need help?" Vanessa called. Roxas noticed her and stopped his assault to smile at her. This quickly proved to be a mistake however, as one of the Fire Plants shot a fireball at the unsuspecting Nobody. Vanessa's eyes widened.

"Roxas!" she cried. In her mind, everything seemed to slow down. She ran with all her might towards Roxas and pushed him out of the way. She cried out as the flaming projectile collided into her arm, causing searing pain. Ignoring the pain for that moment, Vanessa used her Keyblade to quickly dispatch the Fire Plant and the Scarlet Tango that got in the way. She looked back at Roxas.

"You ok?" she called. Roxas scrambled to his feet.

"Yeah." he said. "Thanks. What about you?" Vanessa touched her burn wound. She winced, but it was not as bad as she thought.

"I'll live." she said. "Cure." At her command, her wound was healed. "See? No harm no foul."

"When'd you get here?" asked Roxas. He looked down to notice Vanessa's wardrobe malfunction. "Um, where are your shoes?" Vanessa rolled her eyes.

"I woke up late and forgot to put them on, so the elven douchebag is making me complete the mission without them." she complained.

"Don't they hurt?" asked Roxas. Vanessa rolled her eyes again.

"Nah! My ten little piggly-wigglies are freaking _jonesing_ for this blistering hot sand and all the small sharp rocks!" she said, her voice dripping with harsh sarcasm. Roxas looked down.

"You don't have to bite my head off…" he mumbled. "…I was just asking a question." Vanessa smiled apologetically at him.

"I'm sorry Roxas, I didn't mean to snap at you." she said. "I'm just pretty burned about this…" She paused. "…no pun intended." Roxas chuckled.

"I forgive you." he said. "Come on; let's complete this mission." Vanessa nodded.

"Sounds like a plan to me." she said. She smirked. "Bet I can get more hearts than you!" Roxas grinned.

"You're on!" he said, accepting the challenge.

* * *

Hours later, Vanessa sat hunched over on the ledge on the clock tower, grudgingly licking away at her treat.

"I'm gonna get you one day Roxas…" she scowled. "Mark my words; one day, your ass is _mine_!" Roxas laughed.

"You don't have to make me wait _that_ long do you?" he joked, receiving another scowl from Vanessa, but only a half-hearted one. She seemed mildly distracted. "Vanessa?"

"Yeah?" she replied.

"You ok?" asked Roxas. Vanessa straightened.

"Oh yeah, yeah, I'm fine." she said. "Just thinking is all."

"About what?" asked Roxas.

"Oh you know, this and that."

"This and that? What's that?"

"Same thing this is."

"Which is?"

"This."

"And what's that?"

"That, which is this."

"But what is _this_?"

"That." Roxas groaned with frustration.

"Vanessa!" he scowled. Vanessa broke into laughter.

"I couldn't help it!" she said. She stopped and looked around. "Hey, where's Axel?"

"Miss me? I'm flattered." said a familiar voice. Roxas smiled as Axel rounded the corner and took his usual seat. Vanessa playfully stuck her tongue out at him.

"Really? I don't smell anything." she teased. Roxas laughed at her corny joke. Even Axel could not help but to smirk after taking a bite out of his ice cream.

"Touché." he said. He took another bite and lifted one of his feet in the air. "At least I get to wear _shoes_." Vanessa flinched. She folded her arms and looked away.

"I'm not even gonna dignify that with a response." she murmured.

"He was just kidding Vanessa." said Roxas. "Right Axel?" Axel chuckled.

"Of course." he said. "It's not like I'd ever try to hurt you on _purpose_." Vanessa sighed and smiled at him.

"Yeah yeah, I know." she said. "But I gotta admit, that was a zinger right there." She grinned as she wriggled her toes. "My feet hurt something fierce! You'd be surprised how _pointy_ desert sand is!" Everyone laughed.

"Sorry about that." said Axel. "Me and Saïx kinda had a falling out yesterday; he took it out on you because he couldn't get to me." Vanessa nodded.

"S'alright." she said. "Saïx is an ass, I knew that already. I kinda brought it on myself by sleeping late and not putting on shoes, but that was still a dick move on Saïx's part. But oh well, them's the breaks; ya live and ya learn." She finished off the rest of her treat and stuck the stick in her pocket.

"Are you collecting those?" asked Roxas. Vanessa reached into her pocket and took out a handful of popsicle sticks.

"To be honest, I meant to throw these away." she admitted. "Guess I keep forgetting." Axel shook his head.

"I'd expect something like that from Roxas, but you Vanessa? For shame!" he joked. Vanessa laughed while Roxas scowled.

"Whatever…" he mumbled. Vanessa playfully nudged Roxas in the ribs.

"Lighten up Roxy!" she teased. Roxas faltered.

"R-Roxy?" he questioned. Vanessa grinned.

"Like? It just came to me!" she joked. Axel smirked.

"Roxy huh?" he said. "It's got a nice ring to it. Roxy. Yeah, I like it."

"What do _you_ think Roxy?" asked Vanessa. "Good? Bad? God awful?" Roxas shrugged.

"I _guess_ its ok." he said. "But what about Axel?" Vanessa smirked evilly.

"Oh believe me, I think _Flurry of the Dancing Flames_ pretty much tops anything _I_ could ever think of!" she said. Axel frowned.

"You _just_ couldn't help yourself could you?" he stated more than asked. Vanessa burst into laughter and shook her head.

"Nope!" she admitted. "I wish I was there to see _that_ pitch meeting!" She cleared her throat and threw her voice in an attempt to impersonate Xemnas's deep and dramatic style. She threw in hand motions for good measure. "Ok, because I think your original names aren't utterly ridiculous enough, I'm going to give you all nicknames for my personal entertainment. Axel, because I'm _obviously_ jealous about how much cooler your name is than mine, and that it's not an anagram for anything crudely obscure, I now dub thee the _Flurry of the Dancing Flames_ after a terribly schmaltzy ballet I saw last night before I drank some sand and killed a puppy as part of my daily bedtime ritual." Axel and Roxas had no choice but to burst into a fit of laughter. Her impersonation was terrible, making the situation she described all the more hilarious.

"Roxas, you can be the Key of Destiny, because quite frankly, I'm bored." Vanessa continued. "Vanessa you don't get a nickname because your awesomeness far outshines anything I could ever do without manipulating orphan children to do it for me. Meeting adjourned." They all laughed hard, their voices carrying across the wind, not caring who heard.


	22. Mission Impossible

Author's Note: Good news everyone! Drumroll please! Ta-dah! This is the the last filler chapter! I repeat: This is the **last** filler chapter! Woohoo! But come on guys, they weren't all _that_ bad were they? I hope not... Anyway, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I'm back! I had to put Vanessa in her 'special corner' for this one. She was planing a revolt! Isn't that laughably ridiculous? A _character _revolting against it's _author_? Ha, and again I say, ha! Anyway, I don't own Kingdom Hearts, but I _do_ own Vanessa (suck on _that_!).

Chapter 22: Mission Impossible

"You're joking right?" asked Vanessa with disbelief. "You're freaking joking, _right_?" Saïx folded his arms.

"Do I look as if I am?" he asked coolly. "It has already been decided; you _will_ do this mission."

"But you're pairing me with _him_?" Vanessa exclaimed. "Why can't I go with Roxas? Or Axel? Hell, I'll go with Demyx again! Anyone but…!" Before she could finish, Xigbar appeared in the Grey Area from the Darkness. He smirked at Vanessa.

"Morning little missy!" he greeted. Vanessa rolled her eyes.

"Morning…" she grumbled.

"So where to?" asked Xigbar to Saïx.

"You will be in Wonderland for this mission." Saïx explained. "Your mission is to collect hearts as usual Vanessa."

"So I'm basically just babysitting?" Xigbar asked.

"If you want to refer to it as such." Saïx replied. Vanessa groaned.

"Why do I need a babysitter?" she asked. "I'm perfectly capable of going alone!"

"Out of the question." said Saïx. "You may never leave this castle without an escort." Vanessa folded her arms.

"And why the hell not? It's not like I can go anywhere!" she exclaimed. "What, you don't trust me?"

"Absolutely not." Saïx deadpanned. Vanessa faltered as Xigbar laughed.

"Not subtle at all are you Number VII?" he joked. He patted Vanessa's shoulder. "Don't sweat it little missy." Vanessa shrugged his hand off her shoulder.

"Whatever…" she grumbled. Saïx opened a portal.

"Leave when you are ready." he said. "Also, be on the look out for Sapphire Elegies. They are very elusive; you'll need to be quick on your feet if you wish to defeat them." Vanessa sighed.

"Yeah yeah…" she muttered. "Let's get this crap over with." She stepped into the portal, Xigbar following close behind. When they arrived, they were in a dimly lit room with checkered tiling.

"So this is Wonderland huh?" mused Vanessa. "Doesn't look so 'wonderful' to me…"

"I'm late! I'm late!" cried a voice. Vanessa jumped back as a white rabbit wearing a pocket watch ran past her. "No time to say hello or good bye! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" The rabbit disappeared behind a door.

"Ok." said Vanessa. "I think I speak for everyone when I say, what the hell?" Xigbar smirked.

"Should we follow it?" he asked. Vanessa shrugged.

"Might as well." she said. The two entered the door that the rabbit went through that led to another room. Unlike the other room, it was well-lit and had furniture: two chairs against the wall, two fireplaces on opposite sides, a grandfather clock against one wall, and a white table.

"Where'd it go?" asked Vanessa.

"Check it out." said Xigbar, pointing to the ground. Vanessa looked in the direction he referred to. Her eyes widened with surprise. The white rabbit had shrunk in size. It was still ranting about how late it was, only now in a squeaky voice. It disappeared behind a tiny door with a golden doorknob. A doorknob that had a face.

"Holy shiitake mushrooms!" cried Vanessa. "Am I hallucinating, or did you just see that?"

"I saw." said Xigbar. "So, any bright ideas?" Vanessa got on her knees and bent over towards the door. She poked it in its 'nose'. The doorknob stirred and popped open its eyes, causing Vanessa to shriek and fall back.

"What is it that you want?" it asked in a haughty voice. "Can't a doorknob get any rest around here?"

"You can talk!" Vanessa cried. The doorknob rolled its eyes.

"Indeed." it said sarcastically. It yawned. "What are you bothering me for?"

"Uh….is there another door we can get through?" Vanessa asked.

"Yes…" replied he doorknob. "…but you're much too big to fit through." Vanessa thrust her hands on her hips.

"And what's _that_ supposed to mean?" she demanded. The doorknob sighed.

"Just try one of those bottles over there and leave me alone if you please." it said. Vanessa stood to her feet.

"Damn doorknob telling me I'm fat!" she complained. "I'm an athlete dammit; forgive me for not looking like a freaking super-model!" Xigbar smirked.

"I don't think that's what he meant." he said. He looked at the bottles. A piece of paper that read, "Drink me!" leaned against them. "Demyx did recon on this place a couple of days ago. He said that one of these bottles shrinks you in size."

"Well alright then!" said Vanessa excitedly. She glanced at the red bottle, and then the blue one. "Erm…did he happen to mention which one?" Xigbar shook his head.

"That would've been too easy now wouldn't it?" he teased. Vanessa groaned.

"Well damn, we can't just drink both and hope for the best!" she argued. "We have no idea what could happen!" Xigbar shrugged.

"Well don't look at me. I'm just the babysitter. It's your call." he said. Vanessa sighed and played a quick game of 'eenie-meenie-minie-mo', her finger landing on the red bottle. She picked it up and looked at it reluctantly. She shrugged.

"Well, down the hatch." she said. She poured a sip of the drink down her throat. It was warm and fizzy. She burped. "Oof! Excuse me!"

"Is it working?" asked Xigbar.

"Um, I don't know." said Vanessa. She set the bottle down. "My stomach kinda feels all bubbly and…hey, why is the room shrinking?" Xigbar's good eye widened.

Uh, Vanessa?" he said. "The room's not shrinking. You're _growing_." Vanessa gasped. Sure enough, with each passing moment, she grew taller and taller until she her head hit the ceiling.

"Holy crap!" she swore. She looked down at Xigbar, who was now no taller than her leg. "I'm a freaking giant!" Xigbar laughed.

"Wrong choice!" he teased. Vanessa rolled her eyes.

"No shit!" she said. "Pass up the blue bottle." Xigbar tossed the tiny bottle up to her. She quickly drank it and returned to her normal size. "That was trippy. I guess one more sip should make me small." She thrust the bottle into Xigbar's hands. "But you go first, just in case." Xigbar smirked and took a sip. He shrank down to the size of a shoe.

"Whoa!" said Xigbar in a mildly squeaky voice, causing Vanessa to snicker. "And what are _you_ laughing at little missy? Or should I say _Gigantor_?" Vanessa scowled and snatched the blue bottle off the table. She drank it and set it back down before shrinking herself. As soon as she became small, two Stripped Arias and one Sapphire Elegy appeared. She summoned her Keyblade, Xigbar his arrowguns.

"Ok, the opera melodies, or the funeral song?" asked Vanessa.

"Makes no difference to me." said Xigbar. He shot at the Stripped Arias. "Think you can handle it?" Vanessa smirked.

"You know it!" she said. She rushed off and attacked the Sapphire Elegy. Just as she landed a blow, the Heartless teleported behind her. Confused, Vanessa whirled around and tried to attack it again, only to have it teleport across the room. "Oh that's bull-sugar!" Xigbar finished off one Stripped Aria and moved on to the next one.

"What's the matter, getting tired?" he called. Vanessa rolled her eyes and tried to attack the Elegy. It kept teleporting, so using every bit of agility she had, Vanessa quickly changed her direction of attack to accommodate the disappearing Heartless. When it teleported to the side, she spun around on the ball of her foot. When it teleported behind her, she performed a backwards roll and popped up right in front of it. When it decided to be sneaky and teleport across the room, she fired a round of magic at it. The Heartless never attacked her head on, making the fight easy, but energy-consuming. When she finally landed the final blow, Vanessa was exhausted and sore, her body having moved in ways that she never knew it could. Xigbar joined her side.

"Good work! One heart down, 19 more to go!" he teased. Vanessa glared evilly at him.

"Kiss my ass Patches." she said bitterly as she walked away. She barely walked six feet before two more Sapphire Elegies sprang up. Seeing that she had no choice, she rushed to attack, whispering a chain of obscenities the entire way.

* * *

"Oh god I've never been so sore in my _life_!" cried Vanessa as she lay on her back. Roxas looked at her from over his shoulder.

"Are you sure you don't wanna go back to the castle?" he asked. "You look pretty banged up." Vanessa shook her head.

"I needed some ice cream now more than ever." she replied. She grinned. "I think I've become addicted, but I don't care; I needed my fix dammit!" Roxas laughed.

"You're so bizarre." he said.

"Yeah yeah, tell me something I _haven't _already heard." said Vanessa. "So how was your mission?"

"It was ok I guess." said Roxas. "I was paired with Xaldin." Vanessa perked up with interest.

"Ooh! How'd _that_ go?" she asked excitedly.

"It was strange." said Roxas. "You were right, Xaldin _is_ kinda creepy." Vanessa snickered.

"_I_ could've told you _that_." she said. "But what made it true?"

"He kept muttering to himself. Every time I asked him about it, he just told me that I would be able to know 'in due time'. It was just freaky. And the place itself didn't help the situation either."

"Where'd you go?"

"Beast's Castle. It's very dark and gloomy, and get this: the master of the house is a huge monster, and his servants are talking inanimate objects!" Vanessa laughed.

"Hence the name _Beast's Castle_!" she joked. "But that sounds way better than what _I_ had to go through. Not only was I paired with Xigbar's smug ass, I was put in a world that seems to have been created by some deity on a serious acid trip! Everything was either obscenely big or hilariously too small, and the Heartless! Good god! If I ever have to fight_ one more Heartless_ named after _one more musical reference_, I'm gonna lock myself into a room and burst into spirituals!" Roxas laughed.

"That bad huh?" he said.

"You have _no_ idea." said Vanessa. She willed herself to sit up on the ledge. "Axel coming?" She paused, half-expecting him to drop in at that exact moment. When he did not show, she sighed with relief. Roxas shook his head.

"I don't think so." he said. "It's getting pretty late." Vanessa nodded and looked into the sun setting over the horizon. As always, it was beautiful.

"Hey Roxas?" she asked.

"Yeah?" Roxas replied.

"You ever stop and wonder about what your true purpose is?" asked Vanessa. "Y'know, like why your doing what your doing, and if it's right?" Roxas looked at her.

"All the time." he replied. "Do you?" Vanessa shrugged.

"Occasionally." she admitted. "It's just weird y'know? Us having the Keyblade, and not knowing why or what we're really supposed to do with it. It's all a mystery to me. Why'd the Keyblade choose us? What makes us so special? I mean, a month ago, I was just Vanessa Joan, 17 year-old high school senior and track star extraordinaire. I lived in a normal home smack-dab in the middle of Sapphire City on Westward Avenue. I lived with my Mom, I never knew my dad, and I had an older brother who joined the military last year. I was a relatively normal chick. And then the mutant shadow cats from Hell attacked, and my whole life went downhill from there."

"At least you remember your past. I can't remember anything about myself." said Roxas.

"No? Not a thing?" Vanessa asked. Roxas shook his head.

"No." he said.

"Sucks." said Vanessa. "But look on the bright side: Now, you can create your own memories from scratch. You're one of the lucky few that aren't weighed down by extra baggage from the past. You should use that freedom to carry your present the way you want to." Roxas thought for a moment before smiling at Vanessa.

"Maybe you're right." he said. "You're wiser than you let on." Vanessa laughed.

"Now _that_ is something I haven't heard!" she said.

----------------

AN: In case you didn't get the whole "musical reference" jokes up there, most of the Heartless from 356/2 Days are named after things that pertain to music, for example Stripped **Aria** (a musical piece sung at an opera), Sapphire **Elegy** (a funeral song), Scarlet **Tango** (self-explanatory), etc.


	23. Resonating Hearts

Author's Note: As promised, you are now officially out of filler hell! Yayz! Now we move on to the plot. We're winding down to the last several chapters of the story, and it should be 100% complete in a span of one week. I know, sad, but as Nelly Furtado once sang, all good things come to an end. But until then, enjoy!

Disclaimer: Can I seriously just stop putting these? I would think that after about ten chapters, you'd start getting the point!

Chapter 23: Resonating Hearts

Time seemed to fly by as Vanessa made her place in the Organization. The days turned to weeks, and eventually, the weeks into months. Without realizing it, Vanessa had stayed for five months or, according to Roxas, 150 days. In those days, Vanessa and Roxas became two peas in a pod; virtually inseparable. They no longer went on missions together, but afterwards, without fail, they, as well as Axel on most days, shared in their daily ritual of eating ice cream. Soon, Vanessa no longer felt like a prisoner to the Organization. In fact, she even began to think of herself as one of them. She was on good terms with the Nobodies, even with the ones she deemed 'creeps'. She did well on most of her missions, and generally earned the respect of the other members. At this point, Riku and Naminé were floating memories in the back of her mind, and escape had all but dropped off her train of thought.

"150 days." said Axel after taking a bite of his ice cream. "How does it feel?" Vanessa grinned.

"It's been _that_ long?" she said. "Man, time sure flies." She licked her treat. "There's one thing that surprises me though."

"What's that?" asked Roxas.

"That I'm not sick of this stuff yet!" Vanessa joked as she waved her half-eaten ice cream bar in the air. The Nobodies laughed. "But seriously, it doesn't feel any different. I mean, if feels way better than when I first got here." Axel smirked.

"I remember that day." he said. "You tried to escape. You probably would've succeeded if you were a little smarter." Vanessa scowled playfully.

"No, I would've escaped if I hadn't run into your tall, skinny behind!" she joked. Both Axel and Roxas laughed at that. "But I'm glad I got caught. If I hadn't, we wouldn't all be here right now, eating ice cream and laughing like morons."

"But don't you miss it?" asked Roxas. "Whatever you left behind?" Vanessa shrugged.

"Well you know, I didn't really have much going for me when you guys found me anyway so, hey?" she replied. "It is what it is." She looked into the sky. "I do miss my Mom though."

"Maybe you'll see her again." said Axel. "Y'know, after you're finished here." Vanessa nodded.

"I sure hope so." she said. She finished the last of her ice cream. "Hey! Check this bad boy out!" She showed her friends her leftover stick. The word 'Winner' was written across it in bold letters.

"What'd you win?" asked Roxas.

"Beats me." said Vanessa. "What do you think Axel?"

"Probably a free bar of ice cream." he suggested. Vanessa examined the stick.

"Well, if that's the case…" she said. She held it out to Roxas. "…a gift for you."

"Huh? Me?" said Roxas. He shook his head. "No Vanessa, it's yours. You keep it."

"No really, I want you to have it." said Vanessa. "Keep it in memory of me." Roxas reached out and grabbed the stick. His fingers accidently brushed the side of Vanessa's hand. As soon as the contact was made, a sharp pain stabbed at Vanessa's heart. She grasped her chest and gasped. She suffered chest pains periodically during her stay with the Organization, but never were they as painful as this.

"Vanessa?" asked Roxas. "Are you ok?" Vanessa swallowed back a cry and tried to smile.

"I-I'm fine…" she lied. In reality, her heart felt as if it would pop out of her chest. "Ugh, forget it, ah this hurts!"

"What's the matter?" asked Axel, worry lacing his voice. As quickly as it came, the pain subsided.

"I…I don't know." Vanessa admitted. "One minute I was fine, the next, I felt as if I've been stabbed in the heart."

"Does it still hurt?" asked Roxas. Vanessa shook her head.

"I'm fine now." she said.

"Maybe we should go back to the castle…" suggested Axel. "…y'know, just in case."

"Yeah." Roxas agreed. Vanessa sighed.

"Oh alright…" she gave in. She stood to her feet. Suddenly, her mind blanked out. Her knees buckled from underneath her, causing her to lose her balance. She toppled over the ledge. Roxas sprang into action at the sight of his friend falling. He quickly grabbed her hand, preventing her untimely demise. Vanessa hung over the tower by her arm in a daze. She knew that she fell, but some how, she could not connect her falling to the fact that she was now dangling over the side of the building. With Axel's help, Roxas pulled her back up and laid her on the floor.

"Vanessa!" he cried. "Are you alright?" Vanessa did not move. She parted her lips to speak, but no words came out. Her entire body felt sore and weak.

"Let's take her back." said Axel. He opened a portal. "You got her?" Roxas secured Vanessa in his arms and carried her through. When they arrived at the castle, Roxas laid his ailing friend on the couch in the Grey Area. Saïx looked on curiously at the event that was unfolding before him.

"What is happening?" he asked.

"Vanessa's not feeling her best." explained Axel. "She almost took a spill off a building." Saïx walked over to the couch were Vanessa lay. She did not look well at all. Her breathing was labored and she seemed clammy. Her eyes looked glazed over and she appeared to have broken out into a cold sweat. Saïx noticed the worried expression on Roxas's face. He could not help but to smirk.

"I'll notify Lord Xemnas." he said as he disappeared in the Darkness.

"Is she gonna be ok?" asked Roxas. "What's wrong with her?" Axel sighed and placed a hand on Roxas's shoulder.

"Don't know…" he said. "…but I'm sure she'll be ok. You stay with her, alright?" Roxas nodded.

"I will." he said. Axel gave a small smile and playfully ruffled his friend's hair.

"Don't worry Roxas." he said. "She'll be fine." He turned his back to him and walked away, his smile replaced by a knowing frown.

"I'm sorry Vanessa…" he said softly to himself before disappearing down the hall.

* * *

Xemnas smirked at the information Saïx had just given him. He turned away from Kingdom Hearts to acknowledge his subordinate.

"And you are certain?" he asked. Saïx nodded.

"I'm positive." he said. "I can hear the faintness of her heartbeat; it is weak." Xemnas nodded as well.

"Excellent…" he said. "…though I am surprised that it took as long as it did. Her heart must have been stronger than I originally suspected. No matter, phase one of the plan is complete. Have you notified Xigbar?"

"I will do so now." said Saïx. He disappeared. Xemnas resumed gazing upon the heart-shaped moon.

"Everything is falling into place." he said to the sky. "Soon, a Keyblade wielder's heart will belong to us, Kingdom Hearts."

* * *

Vanessa's eyes fluttered open. As she expected, she was in her bed. She sighed and tried to sit up, but in vain. Her body was extremely weak. She placed her hand over her aching heart. It beat slowly and arduously.

"What the hell's happening to me?" she said aloud. "Why's my heart so weak?" Suddenly, Demyx came bursting through her door.

"Nessa!" he cried. He rushed to her bedside. "I heard what happened! You ok?" Vanessa smiled weakly at her friend.

"You trying to give me a heart-attack man?" she said, only half joking. "But yeah, I'm hanging in there. Do they know what's wrong with me?" Demyx faltered.

"Huh? Oh, uh, nope! Not a clue!" he said hurriedly. He grinned nervously. "But don't worry! The Superior himself is on the case!" Vanessa furrowed her brows.

"You're acting kinda suspicious Demyx." she stated. Demyx flinched.

"Wh-What?" he exclaimed. "Don't say such things Nessa! Would I keep something from you?"

"I didn't say you were keeping anything from me." said Vanessa. "Are you?" Demyx covered his mouth.

"Oops!" he cried. He sighed. "Look Nessa, it's nothing. Don't pay attention to me."

"Don't worry, I get it…" said Vanessa sullenly. "…I'm dying aren't I?" Demyx flinched.

"What? No way!" he cried. "Don't say that Nessa! You'll be fine!"

"It'd be ironic…" said Vanessa. "…y'know, if I did die."

"Why would you say that?" asked Demyx. Vanessa smiled.

"Because all this time, I thought my heart was strong." she said. She frowned. "Guess not."

"Your heart _is_ strong." said Demyx. "That's why this is happening to you. That's why…" He sighed once more. "Never mind. I gotta go." He disappeared before Vanessa could protest. She sank into her sheets and closed her eyes.

"They know more then they're letting on…" she thought before drifting off.


	24. Seeds of Distrust

Author's Note: And the plot thickens! Dun dun dun! I will tell you guys right now, the story's gonna get kinda schmaltzy from here on, so brace yourselves! Aww what am I doing? Sappy romantic drama is what you guys _live_ for! Enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer:...........

Chapter 24: Seeds of Distrust

Naminé gasped and accidently streaked her crayon across the page. A thin red mark now ran diagonally through her drawing.**

"I sense a disturbance…" she thought. "…but what is it?" Naminé shook off the feeling and crumbled away her picture. She opened a fresh page and began anew.

"It's probably nothing…" Naminé mused as she sketched her latest drawing.

* * *

Axel stared sullenly at his friend's unconscious form, his arms crossed and his face expressionless. The room was silent, allowing for him to hear her heartbeat. It was much weaker than it was yesterday. Axel sighed. Suddenly, Saïx appeared in the room.

"Axel…" he said. "…is she ready?"

"Yup…" Axel replied. "…heart's as weak as a kitten." Saïx smirked.

"Good." he said. "Our plan will soon be complete."

"Yeah…" Axel mumbled. Saïx raised his eyebrow.

"What? No clever remark?" he asked. He looked over at Vanessa. "You're not having second thoughts are you?" Axel laughed dryly.

"Nah." he said.

"You've gotten too close to her." said Saïx, not buying Axel's response. "What ever feelings you think you may have for her, cast them away. They're nothing." Axel shook his head.

"It's not _my_ feelings…" he said. "…it's Roxas's. When he finds out…"

"He'll get over it." Saïx scoffed. "Honestly Axel, what has gotten into you lately? It's as if you've changed." Axel laughed again.

"Is that so?" he teased. Vanessa moaned in her sleep.

"Ro…xas…" she muttered weakly. Saïx smirked.

"Pathetic." he said. "The heart can truly be a pathetic thing."

"And yet we're trying so hard to get them back." Axel countered. Saïx said nothing on that matter.

"Ri…ku…" Vanessa murmured. "…Ri…ku…"

"Riku?" said Saïx. "Who is that?" Axel shrugged.

"Beats me." he said.

"Na…mi…" said Vanessa. "…né… Riku… Naminé…" Axel flinched.

"Did she just say…Naminé?" he asked.

"Naminé…" said Saïx. "…what does she know of her?" Axel shrugged.

"Beats me." he said. "Well, I'd like to listen to an unconscious girl's ramblings all day as much as the next guy, but there's somewhere I gotta be. See ya." On that note, Axel disappeared. When he reappeared, he was on top of the clock tower. There, he saw Roxas sitting on the ledge by himself, a half-melted bar of ice cream in hand. He looked deep in thought.

"It'll melt." said Axel. Roxas gasped and looked up. Axel smirked at him and took his seat. "Worried about Vanessa huh?" Roxas looked down.

"Yeah." he admitted. "How is she?"

"Still sleep." said Axel.

"Oh…" Roxas muttered. "Do they know what's wrong with her?" Axel shook his head.

"No." he said distantly.

"Are you sure?" Roxas pressed.

"I'm telling you man, they don't have a clue." said Axel evenly. Roxas sighed.

"I hope she gets better." he said.

"Why do you care so much?" asked Axel. Roxas flinched.

"Huh?" he said. "What do you mean _why_? She's my friend, of course I'd care."

"She's not even one of us." said Axel. "She has a heart and you don't. The premise doesn't even work."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You and her are too different. How can you consider yourselves friends?"

"Where's this coming from Axel?"

"I'm just telling you the facts. She doesn't care about us as much as she let's on. She's only being nice to us because we just happen to be there. If she had to chose between us and regular people, I really don't think we'd be anywhere _near_ her mind."

"What? Axel! That's not true! She does care about us!"

"And how do you know that?"

"She said so!"

"And you believe her? She's an outsider."

"She promised me!"

"Promised you what?"

"She promised…that we'd always…be friends."

"Don't do this to yourself Roxas. Vanessa's nice and all, but she can never be your friend."

"But…she promised…"

"She can't, even if she wanted to. We're just Nobodies. No matter what, she can never relate to us, and we can never relate to her."

"But…I…"

"I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is." Roxas said nothing. He thought about what Axel said. Could it be true that Vanessa did not care about him as much as she said? Was their friendship nothing but lies? Roxas shook the thought from his head and sprang to his feet.

"No!" he exclaimed. "I don't believe you! She _does_ care about me, and I'm gonna prove it!" He opened a portal.

"Roxas!" called Axel, but he was gone. He reappeared in Vanessa's room. She was wide awake and was even sitting up in her bed. Roxas smiled with relief.

"Vanessa." he said. She looked up and smiled at him.

"Roxas!" she called. She waved over to him. "Come on over!" Roxas obediently went to her bedside.

"It's good to see you're awake." he said. "When?"

"About ten minutes ago." she said. "How long've I been out?"

"Not long." said Roxas. "A little less than a day. How do you feel?"

"I still feel weak…" Vanessa admitted. "…but I think I'm doing better. I _hope_ I'm doing better. How about you? How're you doing?"

"Huh?" said Roxas. "Why do you ask?"

"I just wanted to make sure you're ok." said Vanessa. "I got worried."

"Why would you be worried about _me_?" asked Roxas. "You're the sick one."

"I don't know." said Vanessa. "I just did. I thought you'd be upset."

"Over what?"

"Y'know, me being sick."

"Why would I be upset?" Vanessa waved it off.

"Forget it." she said. "Do they know what's wrong with me yet?" Roxas shook his head.

"No." he said. "And if they do, no one's telling _me_." Vanessa nodded.

"Figures." she said.

"Hey Vanessa?" said Roxas.

"Yeah?" she replied.

"Earlier on, Axel said some weird stuff to me."

"Like what?"

"Well, he was saying… Um, he said…"

"Come on, spit it out."

"He said that you don't really care about me. That's not true, is it?" Vanessa furrowed her brows.

"Why would he say that?" she asked. "Of course it's not true, I _do_ care about you; you're my friend Roxas." She took his hand in her own. "You don't believe me?" Roxas flinched.

"N-No, I believe you." he said. "It's just, Axel…" He shook his head. "I don't understand why he'd say that about you…"

"Maybe…maybe he was trying to help you cope." suggested Vanessa.

"Huh? Cope?" asked Roxas. "With what?"

"I think Axel knows what's wrong with me…" said Vanessa. "…and I think it's bad. _Really_ bad. Maybe he was trying to get you to hate me, so you won't miss me."

"I don't understand." said Roxas. "You're not making any sense." Vanessa sighed.

"I think I'm going to die Roxas." she said. Roxas gasped.

"No way!" he cried. "Don't you dare say that Vanessa! You're _not_ dying!"

"Face it Roxas…" said Vanessa. "…why else would they keep it a secret? Obviously something bad is going down, and they want us outta the loop. The only thing I can think of is me dying, and hell, they just might be right." Roxas's eyes wavered.

"Don't say that…" he said. "…you're not dying. You're just _not._ You _can't_…" Vanessa looked down.

"That's easier said than done…" she muttered.

"I'm not gonna let you die." Roxas said. "I…" He squeezed Vanessa's hand. "…I care about you. I don't care if I'm a Nobody or if my emotions aren't real; my feelings about you are real enough for me." Vanessa smiled.

"They're real enough for me too." she said. "I don't care if you're a Nobody either; you're my friend, and that's all there is to it."

"I'm going to find out what's going on." said Roxas definitely. "You won't die; I swear it."

"Ok Roxas." said Vanessa. "I'll hold you to it." Suddenly, Xigbar appeared in the room, causing the two to flinch.

"Well isn't this touching?" he teased. "I hope I'm not interrupting your special moment!" Roxas guarded Vanessa.

"What are you doing here Xigbar?" he demanded. Xigbar smirked.

"Touchy, touchy!" he said. "I was just here to check up on my favorite Somebody." He looked over at Vanessa. "You hanging in there?" Vanessa smiled, more out of politeness than anything else.

"I'm keeping on keeping on." she replied.

"She's fine." said Roxas. "Now what's wrong with her?" Xigbar laughed.

"That, my friend, was an oxymoron!" he joked. "But just like you said, she's fine."

"She's _sick_!" Roxas countered. "And I know you know why! I'm tired of being left in the dark about everything! I want to know!" Xigbar chuckled.

"Look at yourself tiger, getting all up in arms over a _Somebody_." he sneered. "It's almost as if you're really heartsick over her! How's _that_ for irony?" Roxas clenched his fists in frustration.

"Stop joking around!" he cried. Xigbar smirked.

"Who's joking?" he said. He shrugged. "Tell you what tiger, I'll cut you a break. Because I'm such a nice guy, and because there's nothing you can do about it, I'll reveal our master plan." Roxas furrowed his brows.

"Master plan?" he repeated. He glanced at Vanessa. "What plan?"

* * *

******AN: Can any of you guess what Naminé was drawing, and what the red line symbolizes? Food for thought!


	25. Master Plan

Author's Note: Congratulations to Angie-ange, a _very_ faithful reviewer and presumably the only one who hit the hammer on the head with last chapter's philosophical question of the day. I'll make it a wee bit simpler, Naminé was drawing a picture of Vanessa. Anymore would totally spoil the plot (assuming you guys read these, which I'm sure you don't, unless I do **this**), so enjoy the small morsel I doled out, and read the frigging chapter!

Disclaimer: I disclaim the relevancy of putting in more than five of these damn things. I mean, who _started_ this anyway? Is this _required_? Will we _really_ get sued if we don't add them? Do the original owners give a damn? This is a free site, it's not like we're making money off of this. And if you ask me...**End transmission.**

Vanessa (twirling around a plug): Who's laughing _now_?

Chapter 25: Master Plan

"What plan?" asked Roxas. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, before I can tell you that…" said Xigbar. "…I have to tell you a little something about the human heart. It's boring, but bare with me." He cleared his throat. "Like a person, the heart is naturally sociable; it wants to be around others just like it. When a person meets someone new and they hit it off, their hearts attach. Now, what would happen if the heart tries to attach to something that isn't there?"

"What do you mean?" said Roxas.

"Come on Roxas, think about it! If the heart is constantly trying to attach to another heart that doesn't exist, don't you think it'd get _tired_ after a while?" said Xigbar. "Well, such is the case with our little missy over there. Her poor heart's been working overtime to try and attach to a heart. Problem is, there's no heart here to attach to!"

"You mean…" said Roxas. "…her heat is weak…because of us?" Xigbar smirked.

"Almost!" he said. "Her heart is weak because of _you_!" Vanessa flinched.

"What?" she exclaimed. "That's a bunch of crap!" Xigbar chuckled.

"It's the truth. I mean come on, you'd have to be blind if you couldn't see the little relationship thing going on between you two." he teased. "Only, for you, it's more than what you let on right? Admit it Vanessa; you're in love with Roxas, aren't you?" Vanessa flinched.

"Wh-What?" she said. "I…" She looked away, a blush poised on her face. "That is_ none_ of your god damn business!" Roxas looked at her.

"V-Vanessa? Is that…is that true?" he asked.

"Don't deny it little missy." Xigbar accused. "I see the way you look at him. I may not have a heart anymore, but I still remember the way a girl looks at a boy she loves. Face it; you're in love with him." Vanessa said nothing, so he turned his attention back to Roxas. "But anyway, her heart tried so hard to connect to yours Roxas, but as you can well imagine, that's kinda impossible to do when you don't have one to connect with in the first place." Roxas looked down.

"Vanessa…is in love with me?" he said with disbelief, mostly to himself. His face hardened. He glared at Xigbar. "What does this have to do with her being sick?"

"Which brings us to the point." said Xigbar. "As a Keyblade wielder, Vanessa's heart is naturally strong. I mean, look how long it took us to weaken it: 150 days! Thanks to you tiger, her heart is weak enough to be taken over by the Darkness. We'll have her heart and her Nobody in no time at all!" Roxas flinched.

"What?" he cried. "You're trying to turn her into a Nobody? Why?"

"Think about it." said Xigbar. "If we had two Keyblade wielders instead of one, Kingdom Hearts would be complete in twice the time!"

"But I _already_ work for you dumbass!" cried Vanessa. "Turning me into a Nobody who will do the _exact same thing_ I do now would be border-line retarded!" Xigbar laughed.

"At first, that's what I said." he admitted. "But, your Nobody's just an added bonus. It's your heart that we _really_ want."

"My heart?" asked Vanessa. "Why would you want my _heart_?"

"It'll make Kingdom Hearts just that much stronger." explained Xigbar. "I mean, a _Keyblader's_ heart? Come one, Kingdom Hearts would be the baddest entity in the universe! Sure, you're not Sora, but we'll take what we can get." Roxas summoned his Keyblade.

"I won't let you do it!" he shouted. He grabbed Vanessa's hand and yanked her out of bed. "I'm not gonna let you corrupt her heart!" Xigbar smirked as Roxas pushed past him and lead Vanessa out the door.

"Gotta admire that conviction!" Xigbar joked to himself as he disappeared in the Darkness. Meanwhile, Vanessa tried to keep up as Roxas pulled her along the halls.

"R-Roxas! What a damn minute!" she called. Roxas stopped, allowing her to catch her breath.

"I'm sorry." he said. "Are you ok?" Vanessa nodded.

"I'm as ok as I _can_ be after hearing all of that." she said. She frowned. "Do you think it's true?"

"Xigbar's a joker…" said Roxas. "…but he's not a liar. I know when he's telling the truth, and believe me, he was telling the truth." He clenched his fists. "I just can't believe they're gonna do this!" Vanessa looked down.

"I'm not surprised." she said. "I knew I was nothing but a liability to them. All this time, I've been tricking myself into believing that they gave the slightest bit of damn about me…" She shook her head. "I feel so stupid…" Roxas placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't." he said. "This isn't your fault." He looked away. "It's mine. I'm the reason why your heart is getting weaker and weaker everyday. I wish…" He separated himself from Vanessa. "…I wish you never met me…" Vanessa gasped.

"Roxas!" she exclaimed. "Don't you dare say that!" She grabbed his hand. "You're my friend, the best I've ever known! I'm nothing but glad I met you!"

"But if it weren't for me, you wouldn't be in this mess!" Roxas argued.

"None of that matters!" Vanessa countered. "I care about you, and you care about me; _that's_ all that matters." Roxas shook his head.

"No…" he said. "…that's not all that matters. Vanessa, they want to consume you in Darkness. They want to _control _you. Doesn't that bother you?"

"Of course it does."

"And it's my fault. Doesn't _that_ bother you?"

"It's not your fault."

"Yes it is! Don't you see? If you hadn't gotten so close to me…" Roxas sighed. "I'm just a Nobody Vanessa. I don't understand why you even consider me a friend…" Vanessa gritted her teeth.

"God dammit Roxas!" she yelled. "Don't you get it? I…" She cut herself off.

"You what?" asked Roxas. Vanessa shook her head.

"Nothing…" she mumbled. "Forget it…" Roxas glared at her.

"No! Not 'forget it'! You _always_ say that!" he cried. "Tell me!" He grabbed Vanessa's shoulders and looked into her eyes. She avoided his gaze. He gave her a gentle shake. She looked back up to see a pleading look invade Roxas's face. "Please. I need to know." Finally, Vanessa could hold back no longer. She crashed her lips into Roxas's. His eyes widened with shock. When she pulled away, he was confused. "Vanessa?"

"I love you god dammit!" she cried. She quickly turned her back to him. "There, I admitted it!"

"So it's true…" said Roxas softly. Vanessa began to weep.

"I'm sorry!" she wailed. "I know you don't feel the same way but…!" Her words dissolved into tears. At that point, Roxas no longer knew what to do. Instead, he did what felt right. He embraced her.

"Vanessa…" he said. "…please, don't cry." He stroked her hair. Vanessa allowed her sobs to die down. He pulled away from her and wiped her tears away. "Please don't cry." Vanessa sniffed.

"I'm sorry…" she said softly. "…I know you don't know what love means, and I don't wanna complicate things any more than the already are, so just forget I said anything…"

"So you don't love me?" Roxas asked. Vanessa sniffed again.

"I-I do…" she said. "…but…" Roxas pressed his lips against hers. Vanessa gasped. When Roxas pulled away, it was her turn to be confused. "Roxas?"

"I may not know exactly what love is…" he said. "…but I know I feel _something_ for you. Maybe it's love; I don't know. But what I do know is that I care about you, and that I want to be with you always." He squeezed Vanessa's hand. She smiled.

"Thanks Roxas." she said. She frowned. "But what are we gonna do now?"

"Don't worry." he said. "I won't let them turn you into a Nobody. I don't want you to be like me." He tugged on her hand. "Come on." She followed him down the halls.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"To find Axel." Roxas replied. "Maybe he can help us."

"But isn't Axel in on it too?" asked Vanessa. Before Roxas could respond, Xigbar appeared in their path, forcing Roxas to come to an abrupt halt. Xigbar smirked.

"She's right y'know!" he teased. "Everyone is in on this plan, including your buddy!" Roxas gritted his teeth.

"That's not true!" he shouted. "Axel would _never_ keep a secret from me!" Xigbar laughed.

"Are you_ serious_?" he said. "Axel's been keeping stuff from you since day _one_!" Roxas flinched.

"Y-You're lying!" he cried. "Axel's my best friend! He wouldn't do that!"

"Who're you trying to prove it to?" asked Xigbar. "Me? Or yourself?" Uncertainty flooded Roxas's face.

"Stop screwing around with us and move!" Vanessa shouted.

"Or what?" Xigbar asked. "What will _you_ do? It's not like you have the strength to fight!" Vanessa growled and tried to summon her Keyblade. A burst of light flashed in her hand, but that was all. No key came. She tried again. Still, nothing happened. She tried several more times after that. No Keyblade.

"What the hell?" she exclaimed. "What happened to my Keyblade?"

"When I said you didn't have the 'strength'…" sneered Xigbar. "…I was talking about your heart. Remember, your heart's weak! Only strong-hearted people can wield the Keyblade!" Vanessa glared at him.

"Go to hell!" she cried. She pulled on Roxas. "Let's go!" She tried to run in the opposite direction, but Axel appeared in her path.

"Going somewhere?" he asked.

"Axel!" cried Roxas. "They're trying to…!"

"I know." Axel interrupted. He summoned his chakrams and got into a fighter's stance. "Sorry buddy; boss's orders. I know you care about her and all, but I'm not getting turned into a Dusk for a Somebody." Roxas's eyes widened with horrific realization. Xigbar was right; Axel _was_ lying to him.

"A-Axel?" said Roxas, bewildered and betrayed. "Wh-What are you…? Why?" He gritted his teeth. "Why are you doing this?"

"The Organization comes first Roxas…" said Axel. "…got it memorized?"

"You bastard!" Vanessa cried. "You double-crossing bastard! I thought we were friends!" Axel smirked.

"Are you kidding?" he said. "I was only _pretending_ to be your friend to speed up the process. I never cared about you. Why should I? Why should I care about someone who possesses the very thing I've been fighting for the past several years? And you, Roxas; whatever you think you feel for her, its nothing, just a trick of your mind. She's only sucking up to you now because you're the only ally she has left. What do you think will happen if she escapes? You think she's coming back for you? Well think again! I'm the only _real_ friend you have!"

"That's not true!" shouted Roxas. "Vanessa loves me; she'd never leave me or betray me!" Axel gritted his teeth.

"You don't even know what love is!" he shouted back. Roxas rushed to attack Axel, Keyblade in hand.

"Roxas!" cried Vanessa. She watched the two best friends clash with each other. Roxas looked as if he wanted to kill Axel; Axel, on the other hand, looked like he was regretting every minute. She wanted to jump in, but a gloved hand over her mouth prevented her from doing so. She gasped as Xigbar smirked down at her.

"Oh no you don't little missy!" he whispered. He said aloud, "Good work Axel!" Roxas stopped his assault on Axel in time to notice Xigbar open a dark portal. "Take one last look at her Roxas; this'll be the last time you see her this way!" He yanked Vanessa's coat away, the last protection she had against the Darkness.

"Vanessa!" Roxas cried as he watched Xigbar push her into the Corridor of Darkness.


	26. Saving Grace

Author's Note: Ok guys, I know you all are raving about Riku being missing in action for all this time, but I swear, he'll pop up soon. To be honest though, I wish I didn't put it as a Riku/OC/Roxas pairing, because now that I think about it, it's kinda misleading. The Riku/Vanessa pairing is a little lacking as this story draws to a near close...but! Have no fear my fellow fans! As I stated way back in chapter 1, **there will be a sequel**. Had to put that in bold 'cause, y'know. But anyway, I finally broke 50 reviews! I'd like to thank you guys for being so encouraging, and for putting up with my crap. I'll make sure to drown the next story in lots of Riku-romance, just for you! Until then, enjoy!

Disclaimer:Help! My character's insane! She's holding me hostage and trying to force me to...! **End transmission**.

Vanessa: Oops! Amor of Niam can't come to the receiver right now, she's busy rewriting the freaking plot! And she doesn't own Kingdom Hearts.

Chapter 26: Saving Grace

Vanessa landed face first on the cold hard ground. She quickly sat up, only to see her only means of escape disappear. She struggled to her feet; the Darkness was already taking its effect. She fell back to the ground, her body weak. The air turned thick; she could not breathe. Her vision began to haze. She tried to stand once more, but could only make it to her knees before she collapsed on her stomach. She could feel the inky blackness of the Darkness slowly creep up her legs. Pain invaded her body. She bit her lip to prevent herself from crying out.

"This is it…" she thought. "…it's over for me…" A tear slid down her cheek.

"Goodbye…Roxas…"

* * *

Roxas sank to his knees. He looked on in horror and astonishment. Surely he was too late. Soon, the Darkness would consume her, and there would be nothing he could do to save her. Vanessa would be gone, her heart lost to the Darkness forever. She would forget that she loved him, he was sure of that. More importantly, she would forget their friendship. She would be nothing but an empty shell to be controlled by the Organization. She would not be _Vanessa_ anymore.

"It's for the best Roxas." said Xigbar. "I know it seems harsh now, but you'll learn to understand." He disappeared.

"Roxas." said Axel. The Keyblade wielder said nothing. "Roxas."

"What else did you lie to me about?" he asked distantly. "Did you lie about _our_ friendship too?" He turned around to glare at the red-haired Nobody. "Just like you lied to Vanessa?"

"Roxas, I admit I lied about being Vanessa's friend…" said Axel. "…but I'm not lying about you. I still think of you as my best friend."

"How could you?" Roxas asked. "Did she mean _nothing_ to you?" Axel glowered.

"Not a thing." he stated. "And she should mean nothing to you too."

"No…" said Roxas. He stood to his feet. "…she means a lot to me. Everything." Axel scoffed.

"You're being misled!" he shouted. "Dammit Roxas, don't you see? She's trying to get in between us!" Roxas angrily summoned his Keyblade.

"Then let her!" he shouted. "I'd rather be friends with a Somebody, than with a miserable liar like you!" He rushed to attack Axel, who managed to dodge. Axel summoned his chakrams and blocked Roxas's follow up attack.

"Don't do this Roxas!" he shouted. "It's not gonna end well for you!" Filled with blind rage, Roxas ignored Axel's warning.

"She was willing to love me!" he cried as he swung his Keyblade against Axel's chakrams. "And now she's gone!" He swung again. "She was the closest thing I had to heart!" Axel jumped back.

"But she's _not_ your heart!" he countered. He tossed his flaming weapons at Roxas. He was unable to dodge one, which collided into him and knocked him to the ground. He staggered to his feet, panting heavily.

"I don't care…" Roxas breathed. "…she was my friend, and that's all that matters to me. I have to save her." Axel straightened up and softened his expression.

"Then why are you wasting time attacking me?" he asked. "Killing me is not gonna make the situation better. If you care about her so much, why don't you just go get her?" Roxas flinched.

"Wh-What?" he said. Axel chuckled.

"You're so slow sometimes, y'know?" he joked. "Vanessa's got a few more seconds before the Darkness completely takes her over. If you care about her, go save her, got it memorized?" Roxas stared at Axel, his anger dissipating at once.

"A-Axel…" he said. He disappeared his Keyblade and nodded. "Thanks." He opened a portal and rushed into the Corridor of Darkness. He saw Vanessa lying motionless on the ground. The Darkness crawled all over her body.

"Vanessa!" cried Roxas as he rushed over to his friend. He knelt beside her and cradled her in his arms. She was unconscious. He shook her. "Vanessa, can you hear me?" She said nothing. Roxas picked her up and carried her through another portal. Instead of the hallway, he brought her to his room. He laid her on his bed and knelt beside her. He grabbed her hand in his.

"Come on Vanessa, wake up." he pleaded. "Please wake up." She did not comply. Roxas swallowed the panic that began to congeal in his throat.

"Please Vanessa, I'm sorry." he said. "I'm so sorry; please don't leave me." He leaned over and placed his ear against her chest. He heard absolutely nothing. Roxas covered his mouth with his hand and staggered away from the bed.

"No…" he said. "…oh no, please Vanessa no!" He threw his arms around her limp body.

"Pease don't die Vanessa!" he cried. "Please Vanessa, I'm begging you! Don't leave me alone! Please Vanessa! I…I…!" He trembled. "I…" His voice cracked. "…love you."

* * *

"_Vanessa…" whispered a voice. Vanessa groaned and opened her eyes. "Vanessa…"_

"_Wh-What?" she said softly. "What's happening?" Where ever she was, it was as dark as unlit night. She gasped. When she fully gained her composure, she saw that she was standing._

"_What the hell is going on?" she called out to no one. She took a step forward. "Hello?" She took another step forward. She quickly jumped back and screamed when she realized where she was. She was on top of a tall building. She looked down. She could not see the ground through the darkness._

"_Shit!" she cried. "What the hell's going on?" She heard a noise. She swiftly turned around. Her eyes widened in horror when she saw what it was. Dozens of Heartless were coming towards her. She tried to summon her Keyblade. A wisp of light flashed in her hand, but nothing else happened. She tried again. Still nothing._

"_Come on, come on!" she yelled as she continued to try. After five more attempts, she realized that it would not come. Not now. The Heartless drew closer. She backed up slightly. She flailed her arms as she almost fell into the dark abyss behind her. When she steadied herself, she noticed that the Heartless were even closer than ever._

"_I'm gonna die!" she cried hopelessly._

"_Vanessa!" called a voice. She turned around. It was Riku._

"_Riku!" she cried happily. She furrowed her brows when she noticed where he was. He was across from the building she was on, standing on the air. "What…?"_

"_Vanessa!" shouted Riku. He extended his hand. "Come on! You have to come here!" Vanessa flinched._

"_Are you crazy?" she shouted. She looked down. "I'll fall!"_

"_Vanessa!" Riku shouted as he reached out to her. "You don't have much time left! You have to come now!" Vanessa looked over her shoulder. Riku was right; the Heartless were mere feet away. She looked back at him with a desperate look in her eyes._

"_I-I can't Riku!" she cried. "I-I'm scared!"_

"_You have to trust me!" he yelled. "Just walk! The Light will do the rest!"_

"_The Light?" she inquired softly. The Heartless were extremely close now. "Ok Riku! I trust you!" She gulped and took a deep breath._

"_Here goes nothing." she muttered. She closed her eyes and stepped off the building. When nothing happened, she opened her eyes. She quickly looked down. A platform of light was beneath her feet. She took another step forward. The light extended her path. Feeling confident, Vanessa ran towards her friend. When she arrived, she embraced him._

"_Riku!" she cried happily. "Boy am I glad to see _you_!" She pulled away and looked back. The building was gone. "Huh? What going on?" She turned back around. Riku was gone as well. "R-Riku? Riku! Where are you?" Suddenly, the platform underneath her feet disappeared. She screamed as she plummeted through the black abyss._

"_Wake up Vanessa." a voice echoed._

"_What?" Vanessa shouted._

"_Please Vanessa, you have to wake up."_

"_I am awake!" she cried._

"_Please Vanessa, don't leave me…"_

"_R-Roxas?"_

"_Just wake up. Please Vanessa, just wake up."_

* * *

"She's gone…" said Roxas sadly. "She's really gone…" A tear slid down his cheek. He was startled, having never cried before. He curiously lifted the tear with his finger.

"I-I'm crying…" he thought. Suddenly, the tear began to glow. "Huh?" The light from the tear darted into Vanessa's chest. She began to glow. Roxas stood back and watched in awe as Light showered his comatose friend. When the Light disappeared, Vanessa's eyes twitched. She groaned as she slowly came to.

"Huh?" she said. She blinked. "Where am I?" She looked over at Roxas. She smiled. "Hey buddy, what's up?" Roxas just stared at her. She furrowed her brows. "Why are you looking at me like that? You're starting to freak…" Roxas embraced her tightly, cutting her off. She gasped. "R-Roxas?"

"You're alive!" he cried with elation. "Vanessa, you're alive!" He pressed his ear against her chest. "And you still have you're heart!" Though confused, Vanessa returned the embrace.

"I don't know what's going on but, ok." she said. Roxas pulled away from her.

"You don't remember what happened?" he asked. Vanessa thought for a moment. Suddenly, it hit her. She gasped.

"I remember!" she exclaimed. Her hand flew to her heart. It beat steadily against her chest. "B-But how?" Roxas shook his head.

"I have no idea." he said. "You were almost gone, and then you came back." Vanessa sighed with relief.

"Who cares?" she said. "Long as I'm still here, that's all I care about." Roxas nodded.

"Me too." he said. He hugged her once more. "I'm glad you're back." Vanessa hugged him as well.

"Glad to be back." she said. "Ok, so what're we gonna do now?" Roxas frowned.

"We're getting out of here." he said. "There's no reason for us to say. When they find out you're still alive…" He refused to complete his thought. "I can't stay here either. Not after everything that happened."

"You're just gonna leave?" asked Vanessa. She looked away. "Oh god, not for me…" Roxas squeezed her hand.

"Of course for you." he said. "And besides, there's nothing left for me here. Xemnas is insane; I can't go along with his plans anymore. And everyone else, they've been keeping secrets from me this whole time."

"What about Axel?" asked Vanessa.

"Who cares about Axel?" scoffed Roxas. "He kept secrets too. Who knows what he lied to me about? He lied about being your friend; what if our friendship…?" Roxas shook his head. "Forget it, let's just go."

"Now?" asked Vanessa.

"The sooner, the better." he said. "Wait, I'm being hasty; how do you feel?"

"A little weak…" Vanessa admitted. "…but not _nearly_ as much as before."

"And the Keyblade?" Roxas inquired. Vanessa still could not summon it. "That's not good." He looked out his window. "We'll try to escape tomorrow morning, early, before anyone wakes up." Vanessa nodded.

"Sounds like a plan to me." she said.

"Since you don't have a coat anymore, I don't think it's smart to use the Darkness." said Roxas. "We'll just have to use the exit."

"There's an exit?" asked Vanessa. Roxas nodded.

"It's in the sub-basement." he explained. "In Twilight's View, there's an elevator called Crooked Ascension. We can use it to get to Nothing's Call, where the exit is. I have to warn you though, it's not gonna be easy. We'll most likely have to do a lot of fighting." Vanessa nodded.

"I know." she said. "But I'm ready." Roxas smiled.

"Ok, get some rest." he said. "I'll wake you up when it's time to go, ok?"

"Ok." Vanessa agreed. "Good night Roxas." She turned over and closed her eyes.

"And thank you…" she thought. "…for everything."


	27. Escape into the Unknown

Author's Note: I love you guys, you're like the best fans in the whole world! I never thought my story would be as successful as this! I could cry! But I'm not... Anyway, as always, profitez du chapitre!

Disclaimer: **No signal**.

Chapter 27: Escape into the Unknown

"Vanessa." said Roxas softly as he gently shook her awake. "Wake up Vanessa; it's time to get up." Vanessa's eyes fluttered opened, greeted by the darkness of the room. She yawned and sat up. Through the moonlight, she could see Roxas's face.

"Time to go?" she asked.

"Yeah." Roxas replied. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a candy bar. "I got this for you." Vanessa graciously accepted it and devoured it in less than a minute. Roxas laughed. "Guess you were hungry." Vanessa grinned.

"You have no idea." she said. She frowned. "Are you sure about this?" Roxas nodded.

"As sure as I ever am." he said. "But I'll only go if you want to." Vanessa smiled.

"Hell yeah I want to! It's either that, or be killed by a bunch of angry old guys!" she joked. She stood to her feet. "Now let's get the hell outta here!" Roxas slowly opened his door and peered out into the dark hallway. When he was satisfied that the coast was clear, he motioned for Vanessa to follow him. As silently and as swiftly as they could, the two escapees moved through the winding corridors of the Castle That Never Was. In no time, they arrived at the Crooked Ascension elevator, which was really just a large white platform. The two stepped on the platform, but nothing happened, at least, not in Vanessa's mind.

"It doesn't work?" she asked worriedly. Roxas grinned.

"That what it _seems_ like…" he said. "…but in reality, it's moving." Vanessa raised her eyebrow at him.

"I'll just take your word for it." she said. Suddenly, several Dusks appeared in the elevator. Roxas summoned his Keyblade and quickly dispatched the weaker Nobodies.

"Think they're on to us?" Vanessa asked. Another Nobody, known to her as a Dragoon, appeared.

"I wouldn't put it past them." Roxas admitted. He attacked the Dragoon. Though it took a little longer than the Dusks, it was defeated as well. "Ok, we're here."

"How can you tell?" Vanessa asked. Suddenly, they were in an underground passageway partially filled with water.

"It's a Nobody-thing." Roxas joked. "Come on." He splashed through the water, Vanessa following close behind. She shivered.

"God damn!" she exclaimed. "It's _cold_ down here!"

"That's because of the exit." explained Roxas. "It's never closed, and a draft is always blowing through."

"No _wonder_ the castle is always so damn cold!" Vanessa noticed. Roxas stopped at a fork in the road. "Which way?" He pondered it for a moment.

"Left." he said. They continued on down the left passage way. Sure enough, it led to a huge open door. As soon as they slipped through, they were free.

"That wasn't bad." said Vanessa. "Hell, that was actually kinda easy considering."

"It's not the Nobodies I'm concerned about…" said Roxas. "…it's the Heartless."

"Say what?" said Vanessa. She flinched. "This is the Dark City! So that's means…" She gulped. "…those freaky strong Neoshadows." She began to tremble. Roxas noticed and rubbed her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.

"Don't worry, it'll be ok." he assured her. "Let's keep moving." Vanessa sighed and followed Roxas once more.

"Hey Roxas?" she said as they walked.

"Yeah?" Roxas replied.

"I really appreciate this."

"What are friends for?"

"No friend I ever had is willing to brave defection from a powerful association of criminals and heart-pilfering monsters in the dead of night. Hell, most of my friends won't even serve _detention_ with me!"

"Detention?"

"It's a mild form of punishment at school. But anyway, thank you so much Roxas. You just don't know how much this means to me."

"No problem. Like I said, what're friends for?"

"Roxas?"

"Yeah?"

"I have a confession to make."

"What is it?"

"I know who your Somebody is." Roxas flinched.

"Y-You do?" he exclaimed. "Who?"

"Sora." Vanessa revealed.

"Sora…" said Roxas. "…I've heard that name so many times, and I never thought much of it…. How do you know his name?"

"Because I met him." said Vanessa. "Well actually, not really. He's in a deep sleep right now and…" She trailed off.

"And what?" Roxas pressed. "What Vanessa? Tell me."

"He won't wake up until his memories are restored." she said. "Do you know anything about a Castle Oblivion?"

"Yeah." said Roxas. "That was a mission that several of the old members had to do. Every time there was meeting about it though, I wasn't invited. In fact, to this day, I _still_ have no clue what the Castle Oblivion mission was about."

"Well, you know Naminé right?" asked Vanessa.

"Yeah." said Roxas. "I think I meet her once or twice. She used to live in the castle. She was always drawing. After Castle Oblivion, I never saw her again, and everyone just stopped talking about her."

"Well, Naminé had the ability to manipulate the memories of Sora and everyone else connected to his heart." Vanessa explained. "I don't know the details, but I do know that the Organization was using Naminé to manipulate Sora. I guess they were trying to get him for the same reason they wanted me."

"And all the members who were eliminated?" asked Roxas. "Did Sora do it?" Vanessa shrugged.

"Like I said, I don't know the details." she said.

"So Sora's my Somebody…" Roxas mused. "I have to meet him; there's so much I gotta ask."

"Join the club." said Vanessa. "I still gotta ask him about this Keyblade thing. He's the Keyblade _master_ after all."

"He is?" asked Roxas.

"That's what I was told." said Vanessa. She smiled. "Besides, he owes me a ride back to my home world." Roxas flinched.

"You're home world…?" he muttered. He looked away.

"Huh?" said Vanessa. "Hey, why you look so upset?"

"You're leaving me…" he mumbled. Vanessa flinched.

"Oh god no!" she exclaimed. "Roxas, I'd never leave you! I just wanted to make sure that my Mom's ok, y'know? I mean, it _has_ been almost half a year since I last saw her…"

"You miss her?" asked Roxas. Vanessa nodded.

"Yeah." she said. "I'm worried about her Roxas; I'm all she's got left." Roxas was about to remark, but a noise prevented him from doing so. He stopped walking and grabbed Vanessa's arm.

"We've got company." he said. Suddenly, a legion of Neoshadows appeared. Vanessa shook with fright.

"Just like my dream…" she thought. Roxas summoned his Keyblade.

"You ready?" he asked. Vanessa tried to summon hers, but it did not appear.

"Uh oh." she said. "Roxas, I still can't summon my Keyblade!"

"You sure?" asked Roxas. Vanessa tried again to no avail. "Don't worry, I'll protect you."

"Against _all _of them?" asked Vanessa skeptically. Roxas nodded.

"Stay behind me and keep as close as you can." he instructed. Vanessa did as she was told as Roxas attacked the Heartless. She stuck to his back like glue. Every once and a while, she had to dodge a swipe or two, but she remained relatively unscathed throughout the fight, much to her surprise. Somehow, Roxas managed to take out a sizeable portion on the swarm by himself. Unfortunately, they kept reappearing. Roxas tried to defeat them again, but every time he took care of one, two more seemed to take its place.

"There's too many of them!" Vanessa cried. She was right; they were everywhere.

"Come on!" cried Roxas. He grabbed Vanessa's arm and ran through an opening between the crowds of Heartless.

"Figures they'd all come after the only heart available, _mine_!" Vanessa exclaimed as they ran through the deserted streets of the Dark City. "So what's the plan?"

"I don't know!" Roxas admitted. "I really wasn't expecting to get this far!"

"_What_?" Vanessa shouted. "Are you _serious_?" She looked over her shoulder. The Heartless were gaining on them, fast. "Isn't there _anywhere_ we can go?" Roxas gasped.

"I think I have an idea!" he said. "Follow me!" Vanessa followed Roxas as he led her to a tall skyscraper. He picked her up and secured her on his back. "Hang on!" He began to run up the building as if he were running up a hill. Vanessa decided it would be best for all of them not to question the logic of his feat. When he reached the top, he set her down.

"I'm not even gonna _ask_ how you just did that." she said. Roxas laughed. "You think we'll be safe up here?"

"We ditched the Heartless, so we'll be safe for now." he said.

"May I ask you a question?" said Vanessa.

"Sure, anything." said Roxas.

"What _exactly_ was your plan after we escaped the castle?" asked Vanessa. Roxas sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, I was just hoping we'd ride it out here until you got most of your strength back." he admitted. "Then I was gonna take a chance and teleport us to Twilight Town." Vanessa gave him a look.

"_That's_ your master plan?" she complained. "That's the most under-thought and retarded thing I've ever heard!" Roxas scowled.

"Look, I'm _trying_ ok?" he said brusquely. "If you have a _better_ plan, I'm all ears." Vanessa frowned.

"I'm sorry Roxas." she said. "I don't mean to doubt you, I'm just…scared. I mean, we're two kids alone in a huge city filled to the brim with monsters, and only _one_ of us can fight them off. Forget scared, I'm freaking _terrified_!" Roxas smiled and stroked her cheek.

"Don't be." he said. "I'll protect you, I promise." Vanessa smiled and rubbed Roxas's hand.

"I know you will." she said. She sat on the ground. "Where the heck are we anyway?" Roxas sat as well.

"Memory Skyscraper." he said.

"Why's it called that?" asked Vanessa.

"I think it's because it displays your memories on that big bulletin board in the front." Roxas replied.

"For real?" asked Vanessa. "Cool. You know what time it is?" Roxas shook his head.

"I don't have a watch, sorry." he said. Vanessa sighed.

"Figures." she said. She shrugged. "Oh well, it doesn't really matter anyway. It doesn't seem like there's anything we can do now except sit around." Roxas nodded.

"At least until you get all your strength back." he said. "Then we're outta this awful place." Vanessa grinned.

"Sounds good to me." she said. She shivered.

"You cold?" asked Roxas.

"Just a little." Vanessa replied. Roxas took off his coat and draped it around Vanessa. He hugged her close to his body. She noticed his outfit. "Hey, how'd you go from wearing black pants to white pants?" Roxas smirked.

"Magic!" he teased. Vanessa shook her head.

"Ch'yeah…" she said sarcastically. She snuggled against Roxas's chest. "I love you Roxas." Roxas smiled.

"I love you too." he said. He kissed her forehead. "Heart or no heart, I love you too."


	28. Reunited And It Feels So Wrong

Author's Note: Eek, I'm getting so apprehensive! The story's ending so soon! Ah, it seems as if it were just yesterday I was all apprehensive about _posting_ the actual story! Well, it's been a month since then, and this story's been going pretty strong considering! I'm so proud of you guys! ANd myself of course, after all, I _wrote_ the damn thing. But anyway, enough of my sentimental blather! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I ran out of witty things to put here, sue me... (wow, that was oxymoronic)

Chapter 28: Reunited And It Feels So Wrong

"_So back to Roxas, you said that he holds half of Sora's power?"_

"_Yes. He can also wield the Keyblade."_

"_Does he know about all this? About Sora I mean?"_

"_No. And we try to keep it that way."_

"_Why?"_

"_In the end, Roxas will have to give back Sora's power."_

"_You mean sacrifice himself to Sora?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Sounds kinda harsh don't ya think?"_

"_I wouldn't know."_

"_Oh bull-sugar Naminé! You don't need a heart to know that that's kinda messed up! And Roxas doesn't even know about this! Someone should at least tell him…"_

"_No! He can't know! Please Vanessa, don't see him anymore. If he discovers us…"_

"_Don't worry Naminé! My lips are sealed."_

Vanessa woke up with a start. She tried to straighten up, but was restricted due to Roxas sleeping on her shoulder. She frowned.

"I can't believe I forgot about that." she thought. "When the time comes that Sora needs him, Roxas will…" She mentally shook the thought from her mind; she could not think of such things now.

"I wonder how Naminé's doing…" she thought instead. "…and Riku. How've they been the past few months?" Vanessa sighed. "No one ever bothered to look for me. I mean, I know it was my fault and all, but damn! Some friends _they_ turned out to be…" She yawned.

"What about Hayner, Pence, and Olette?" she wondered. "Are they ok? Do they even _remember_ me?" Vanessa shook her head. "Why am I thinking about all of this _now_? I'm not out of the woods _yet_." She smiled as she gazed at Roxas's sleeping form. His mouth was parted ever so slightly, giving him a look of peace amidst their danger. She poked him in the nose. He wrinkled it, causing her to giggle. She poked him again. He lazily swatted his nose to rid himself of the disturbance. Vanessa snickered.

"Stop it Vanessa, let the poor boy sleep." she said aloud to herself. As she waited for Roxas to wake up, she contented herself with raiding his pockets. She found six candy bars in his left pocket. In his right, among an assortment of other junk, she found the 'Winner' popsicle stick she had given him earlier. Her eyes wavered.

"He kept it." she thought. "He actually kept this junk." Suddenly, Roxas began to stir. His eyes fluttered open. He jolted upright.

"Oh no! How long was I asleep?" he asked anxiously. Vanessa laughed.

"Take a chill pill Roxas, you haven't been out long." she said. "And believe me, we haven't been attacked or anything, so I think it wouldn't've hurt to get in some lazy hours." Roxas sighed.

"I didn't mean to sleep too." he said. "I wanted to keep watch while you slept, just in case." Vanessa smiled.

"Aww, that's so sweet of you Roxas!" she cooed. "But don't worry yourself over it; let it slide this time." Roxas nodded.

"Right." he said. "Hungry?" Vanessa's stomach did the talking for her. She blushed as Roxas laughed. "I guess so. Reach into my pocket. All I have are a few candy bars, but it'll have to do until I can find some real food." Vanessa quickly ate the candy.

"That was good." she said. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." said Roxas. "Hey, Vanessa? May I ask you something?"

"Sure." she replied.

"How did you know all of that stuff?" Roxas asked. "The stuff you told me yesterday, about Sora and Castle Oblivion and all of that."

"Naminé; she told me."

"You know her?"

"Back in my home world, I was attacked by Heartless. I was able to escape because of a portal that led me into the Corridor of Darkness. I passed out, and when I woke up, I was in an old mansion. She lives there, and she works her butt off everyday to try and revive Sora. She told me everything I know."

"Oh…"

"Remember that day you saved me from the Heartless in Twilight Town?"

"Yeah."

"Why'd you do it?"

"I don't know. I guess I felt sorry for you." Vanessa laughed.

"Well I'm glad you did." she said. "If you didn't, those Heartless would've torn my butt _apart_!" Roxas laughed as well.

"Yeah." he agreed. "As soon as I saw you had the Keyblade, I don't know, somehow I just knew that I had to help you. Actually, I was kinda hoping you could answer my questions. You wouldn't believe how disappointed I was when I found out you couldn't help me. I _almost_ hated you for it."

"What stopped you?" Vanessa asked. Roxas smiled.

"I couldn't hate you Vanessa." he said. "It's impossible. There was just something about you that I couldn't hate. At first, it confused me, but now…" He took her hand in his own. "…I think I know what it is." Vanessa's heart quickened its pace as Roxas gently brushed a braid away from her face. He leaned in and planted a sweet kiss on her lips. Vanessa reciprocated, allowing Roxas to deepen the kiss.

"Vanessa?" called a voice suddenly. Vanessa gasped and ended the kiss. She would recognize that voice anywhere, even in her dreams. She turned around. Her eyes widened with shock and disbelief. Ahead of her was none other than Riku and all his blindfolded glory. She started at him with a mix of joy and fear. Joy because she was able to see him again, fear because she did not know what it would mean for Roxas.

"You know him?" asked Roxas, confused. Vanessa stood to her feet. She was torn between two actions: embracing Riku, and saving Roxas.

"R-Riku…" she said. "…um, long time no see?"

"What are you doing out here?" he asked. He stared in Roxas's direction. "And with _him_ no less?" Roxas stepped in front of Vanessa.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" he said defensively. "Vanessa, who is this guy?" Riku smirked.

"You've joined the Organization I see." he said. He pointed his sword at Vanessa. "That makes you my enemy." Vanessa gasped.

"N-No!" she cried. "It's not like that at _all_!" Her face hardened. "I was _kidnapped_ for god's sake! It's not like _you_ tried to rescue me!" Riku frowned.

"Whatever." he said. "It doesn't matter now; Sora's almost ready to wake up."

"You mean…?" Vanessa asked. Riku nodded.

"I guess it's good you joined the Organization." he said. "You gained his trust and lured him away from their stronghold. That's less work for me." Roxas furrowed his brows.

"Gained my trust?" he asked. "Vanessa, what is this guy talking about?"

"It's not like that Roxas." she said. She turned to Riku. "I know you need Roxas to wake Sora up, but I can't let you take him. Roxas deserves to live just as you or I do."

"He's just a Nobody Vanessa." said Riku. "What happened? Why are you protecting him?"

"Because…" said Vanessa. "…I care about him." Roxas summoned his Keyblade.

"I don't know what's going on…" he said. "…but I'm not going anywhere with you!" Riku smirked.

"He's coming with me one way or another Vanessa…" he said. "…whether or not you help won't matter. But if you hinder me…" Vanessa held out her arms to guard Roxas.

"Don't do this Riku!" she pleaded. "Please, just leave us alone!" Riku frowned. He had never heard Vanessa use a begging tone, let alone _beg_, before now. He gasped when he realized what happened.

"You…you fell in love with him, didn't you?" he stated more than asked. He gritted his teeth. "Vanessa, he's a _Nobody_; he's not even real! How could you…? How could you even…consider…?" He shook his head. "Whatever; Roxas, Vanessa, you're both coming with me!" Roxas stepped ahead of Vanessa, his Keyblade at the ready.

"No way!" he cried. He rushed to attack.

"Roxas!" Vanessa cried as Riku blocked Roxas's Keyblade. As swift as lightning, the two combatants attacked each other back and forth. Vanessa looked on helplessly as the two fought. She did not know what to do, or even who she wanted to win. She knew that Roxas was needed to awaken Sora, and she still cared about Riku, even after all the months she was separated from him, but also, she created a bond with Roxas that she could not just discard on a whim, even if it was one-sided. Her love for Roxas was real, and she did not want him to disappear to another person whom she had never met, to someone she was not even sure _deserved_ to have someone be sacrificed to him. But for now, she watched the fight with her conflicting viewpoints. Roxas knocked Riku to the floor.

"Ready to give up?" sneered Roxas. Riku struggled to his feet. He was losing, and he knew it.

"Not yet." he said. He smirked. "I still got one trick left up my sleeve." He removed his blindfold. Suddenly, a dark mist began to enshroud him. He cried out as an invisible force exploded around his body, lifting him and the mist into the air. He became enveloped in the Darkness. Vanessa looked on, mystified and horrified at the same time. When the Darkness disappeared, Riku no longer looked like himself. In fact, he looked a lot like Xemnas; not quite, but enough to force Vanessa to stagger back in alarm. Roxas was also taken aback by Riku's sudden transformation. Before he could react, however, Riku disappeared. He reappeared right in front of Roxas a split-second later and grabbed his neck. Roxas choked out as he was lifted off the ground.

"Roxas!" Vanessa shouted. She tried to rush into the fight, but a small explosion of Darkness knocked her to the ground on her back. Riku dropped the now unconscious Roxas to the floor and turned his attention to Vanessa. She trembled fearfully as Riku approached her.

"Are you afraid Vanessa?" he asked, his voice much deeper than before. Vanessa gritted her teeth.

"What the hell did you do?" she cried. "Why do you look so much like Xemnas?" Riku parted his lips to reply, but a dark portal appeared. Riku quickly covered his face with his hood. From the portal, DiZ appeared.

"Well done Riku." he said. "Our plans are nearly complete." He glanced at Vanessa and smirked. "Ah! The prodigal child returns!"

"Screw you!" she cried. She quickly stood to her feet. "I'm not letting you take him!"

"Are you _mad_ woman?" asked DiZ. "We've been through this; he is needed for Sora. Perhaps you no longer understood this once you've turned coat." Vanessa faltered.

"I-I never betrayed _anyone_!" she cried. "If anything, _you_ betrayed _me_! I know you knew the Organization kidnapped me! Why didn't anyone come get me?"

"By disobeying our warnings, you chose your own fate." scoffed DiZ. "Why should we have suffered because of your insolence?" Vanessa gasped. She shook with rage.

"How is it that Nobodies _continuously_ prove to have more heart in their shoes than you do in your entire body?" she retorted. "At least Roxas gave a damn about me!" DiZ shook his head.

"It was merely an illusion." he said. "Nobodies can never truly feel. No exceptions can be made." He glanced at Riku. "Bring him to the mansion."

"And Vanessa?" he asked. "What should I do with her?"

"That all depends." DiZ replied. "If she is willing to cooperate with us, I am willing to give her a second chance."

"And if not?" asked Riku. DiZ mulled it over for a moment.

"Leave her here." he said finally. "The Heartless will do away with her. I'd rather her not exist, than to exist against us. She is far too dangerous in the hands of the enemy." With that, he disappeared in the Darkness. Vanessa swallowed as Riku lifted Roxas onto his shoulder. He turned to her.

"So Vanessa…" he asked. "…what will it be?"


	29. Betrayal

Author's Note: Because it's late and I'm tired, I've nothing to say except sorry that the chapter's kinda short. Regardless, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

Chapter 29: Betrayal

In the end, it was her fear of the Heartless that forced Vanessa to follow the newly transformed Riku into the Darkness. Thanks to Roxas's coat, her weakened heart was able to avoid a dark fate. All the while she followed behind Riku, Vanessa avoided Roxas's face, even though he was unconscious. She could not bear to look at him. Not after she betrayed him. When they exited the Corridor of Darkness, they were in DiZ's computer lab. Riku set Roxas down on a strange machine as Vanessa silently bore holes into the ground with her glare.

"What's going to happen to him?" asked Riku.

"Naminé still needs a little more time to prepare Sora for his awakening." DiZ replied. "In the mean time, I will place Roxas in the simulated Twilight Town with a new personality to throw off his pursuers." He looked at Vanessa. "And as for her, she is _never_ to leave this mansion under _any_ circumstance." Riku nodded.

"Understood." he said. DiZ turned around to his computer. After several keystrokes, the machine that Roxas was in glowed. Vanessa's face crumpled with despair as he saw her friend slowly disappear. She tried to rush to him, but Riku sensed this and grabbed her arm, preventing her.

"Roxas!" Vanessa cried out. She struggled against Riku's grasp. "Let me go god dammit!"

"Vanessa stop." said Riku definitively. "There's nothing you can do. Everything has already been set in motion; it's over." Vanessa stopped struggling and burst into tears.

"It's not fair!" she wailed. DiZ chuckled.

"What a strong display of emotions to something that can not reciprocate them." he teased. "Has being in the Organization deluded you so much that you can not perceive this simple fact? Roxas is a Nobody, and as all Nobodies, he does not deserve his existence. A relationship between a person and a Nobody is nothing short of abominable." Vanessa glared at him.

"Fuck you!" she screeched, causing the man to flinch in utter surprise. "Roxas _is_ a person, and he _does_ have a heart! I love him, and he loves me, and I don't give a shit what you think about it!" She wrenched herself away from Riku's grasp and dashed upstairs.

"What a despicable girl!" DiZ exclaimed in upset. "What must we do to make her understand?" He shook his head. "No matter. As long as she doesn't screw things up, she can say and feel what she will."

* * *

Vanessa ran all the way up the flight of stairs in the foyer until she arrived in her old room. She locked the door behind herself and sat on the floor. She stared despondently at the carpet.

"Roxas…" she muttered as fresh tears formed in her eyes. "…I'm sorry…" She brought her arm to her eyes and cried into it. Roxas was gone, and there was nothing to be done about it. She could not help but think it was her own fault. She practically led Roxas to his doom; if it were not for her, he would have never run away, and maybe the Organization could have protected him from Riku. Then again, if Roxas's had _not_ done all that he did, she would be a Heartless right about now, or worse, a Nobody.

"No, if I hadn't run away in the first place, _none_ of this would've happened." she thought. "If I just stayed put…" She shook her head and tried to summon her Keyblade. Of course, it did not appear.

"Why'd it choose me?" she asked the air. "It's obvious how weak my heart is; so why?" She did not receive an answer. Frustrated, Vanessa grabbed the lamp that was on her dresser and hurled it across the room with as much strength as she could muster. It crashed against the wall and shattered into pieces. Vanessa panted with rage. A small memory floated past her mind.

"_Vanessa, you can't just throw away your Keyblade. Believe me, I know. It chose us for a reason, and whatever the reason is, it's not gonna let go of us anytime soon." _Vanessa tore up at the sound of Roxas's voice. Suddenly, there was a knock at her door.

"Vanessa?" called a voice, Naminé's. "Vanessa? Is that you? Are you ok? I heard a noise." She tried to jiggle the door knob. "Vanessa, please, open the door." Vanessa unlocked the door to see Naminé standing in the doorway. She smiled.

"You're back." she said. "I missed you." Vanessa looked down.

"I'm sorry…" she said. "…I should've just listened to you. I should've…" She burst into tears once more and embraced Naminé. Though surprised, Naminé held Vanessa in her arms.

"Oh god Naminé, I don't want him to disappear!" Vanessa wailed. "I know you've been working so hard to revive Sora, but god dammit, I love Roxas! I don't want him to go!"

"I know you don't." said Naminé. "I'm sorry it has to be this way, I really am, but Roxas won't fully disappear." Vanessa pulled away from Naminé and looked at her, a glimmer of hope in her purple eyes.

"Really?" she asked. Naminé nodded.

"You'll be near him every time you're near Sora." she said. Vanessa frowned. That was not exactly the answer she wanted.

"It's not the same…" she mumbled. Naminé smiled apologetically.

"No, it's not." she admitted. "But Roxas will live on in Sora, and in your heart."

"I guess…" said Vanessa uncertainly. She reached into the pocket of Roxas's black coat and pulled out the 'Winner' popsicle stick. She could not help but to smile. "Y'know what Naminé? Maybe you're right. I mean, I'm still upset but…" She trailed off. "I don't know."

"Will you be ok?" asked Naminé. Vanessa nodded and wiped her eyes.

"I'll be fine; don't worry about me." she said. "How long do you think it'll be before Sora can wake up?"

"Five days." Naminé replied.

"Can I meet him?"

"Of course you can. But don't expect him to remember you. Roxas's memories will be lost to Sora. In fact, there will be several things he won't remember."

"Like what?"

"Castle Oblivion, the Organization, me…"

"You? Oh that's right, you met him before. Why won't he remember these things?"

"Some of his memories became lost while I tried to piece them back together. Besides, DiZ thought it'd be best if he didn't remember certain things." Vanessa rolled her eyes.

"DiZ, right…" she muttered bitterly. "He's a cold-hearted bastard, you ever noticed that?"

"Well, he can be a bit strict at times…" said Naminé. "…but he does what he does for Sora." Vanessa shook her head.

"I don't know…" she said. "…I smell a rat. I think he has some hidden agenda of his own." Naminé flinched.

"What would make you think that?" she wondered.

"I don't know…" Vanessa admitted. "…but there's just something about him that I don't get. Or maybe he just pisses me off."

"Perhaps you're just angry with him." said Naminé. "I know you don't agree with his methods, but he does what he does to make sure this works." Vanessa sighed.

"I guess you're right." she said. She frowned. "He's still a bastard though." Naminé giggled.

"It's good to have you back Vanessa." said Naminé. "I missed you." Vanessa grinned.

"I guess it's good to be back." she said. "I missed you too."


	30. Heartfelt Connection

Author's Note: T-minus two chapters 'til the end guys! If all goes well, it should be finished by the end of the week! In the mean time, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

Chapter 30: Heartfelt Connection

For three whole days, Vanessa avoided Riku and DiZ. She spent these days with either alone or with Naminé, which was not a good thing for her heart. Though Vanessa was loathed to admit it, Naminé was in fact a Nobody, and did not have a heart that could be connected to. Vanessa's heart became no stronger for those three days. Her Keyblade refused to come to her, no matter how many times she called upon it.

She was still extremely upset over Roxas, so in an attempt to cheer her up, Naminé offered Vanessa a chance to watch Roxas as he lived his last few days. Vanessa tried, but the sight of him living the way he did in a world where everything was a lie threw her into spiraling despair. For three days she sulked around the mansion, walking aimlessly from room to room, saddened and bored out of her mind. Finally, after watching Vanessa become reduced to a shell of her former self, Naminé decided once and for all that she needed to take action.

"Riku?" called Naminé as she descended the stairs to the foyer. There, she found him looking out the glass window underneath the staircase. She slowly approached him. "Riku?" Riku turned to face her, the shadow of his hood shrouding his face.

"What is it?" he replied.

"We need to talk." said Naminé.

"What about?" Riku asked.

"Vanessa." Naminé replied. Riku turned his back to her.

"There's nothing to talk about." he said curtly.

"Riku…" said Naminé. "…Vanessa's heart is growing weaker and weaker everyday. She's falling farther and farther into the Darkness. She's upset Riku. She needs you."

"She hates me." said Riku. "She doesn't want anything to do with me."

"She doesn't hate you; she's just really upset about Roxas. She knows deep in her heart that this must be done, but that doesn't make it any easier for her."

"It doesn't make sense."

"What doesn't?"

"That she was able to fall for him. How is that possible?"

"I don't know. But it doesn't matter. She needs you Riku, go to her." Riku shook his head.

"I can't…" he said. "…not like this." Naminé reached out and took his hand in hers.

"You may have changed on the outside…" she said. "…but you're still you inside. She'll see that."

"How can you be so sure?" Riku asked. Naminé shook her head.

"I don't know." she admitted. "I used to be so uncertain about things, but now…" She smiled. "Ever since I met Vanessa, and I saw how sure she was about everything she did, it just got to me. She is who she is, as she always used to say. Maybe that's how she was able to fall for Roxas, because that's just how she is." Riku sighed.

"I guess I'll give it a try." he said. Naminé nodded.

"That's all I ask." she said. "She's in her room." Using the Darkness, Riku appeared in Vanessa's room. Sure enough, she was in her bed, staring up at the ceiling blankly. She looked indifferently at Riku.

"Get out of my room…" she said emotionlessly. Riku hesitated for a moment before approaching her.

"Vanessa…" he said. "…we have to talk."

"No we don't…" she muttered.

"Vanessa, please." Riku pleaded. "I don't like this. We used to be such good friends. I don't…" He sighed. "…I don't want to lose you." Vanessa sat up and glared at him.

"That's funny!" she retorted. "You sure as hell didn't seem to mind losing me after I was kidnapped! I was gone for _five months_ Riku! What? You thought I could come back on my own? You _knew_ I was trapped! You didn't even _bother_ to come for me!" Riku glowered at Vanessa from under the shadow of his hood.

"You sure could've fooled _me!_" he countered. "For someone who was trapped, you looked as if you were having a blast! And for the record, I _did_ go back to get you!" Vanessa furrowed her brows.

"What are you talking about?" she demanded.

"A month after you left, despite DiZ's orders, I went to look for you. I was able to intercept a dark corridor that you were in." Riku explained. "I was completely prepared to bring you back, until I saw how happy you looked." Vanessa faltered.

"H-Happy?" she repeated, confused.

"You were smiling and laughing with Roxas and Axel." said Riku. "You just looked so happy, happier than I've ever seen you here. Here, you seemed miserable, but there?" Riku looked away from Vanessa. "There, you looked like you were enjoying yourself so much; I couldn't bear to take you away…" Vanessa stared at Riku with disbelief at what she just heard.

"Riku…" she said softly.

"I wanted it to be a lie." Riku continued. "I thought that I could deceive myself into thinking that you were better off here with me but…" He sighed. "…the eyes don't lie Vanessa. I saw in your eyes that at the time, you would have rather stayed right where you were." He clenched his fists. "And, I'm sorry to say, I hated you for it." Vanessa flinched.

"You…you _hated_ me?" she exclaimed. "But why?"

"Because you can find the Light in any situation you're in so easily." said Riku. "No matter where you find yourself, Darkness or Light, you always seem to be able to find your place. I've been lost for two years now. I tried so hard to find myself and who I really am. When I saw how easily you were able to do it, I…" He could not bring himself to finish. Vanessa slowly approached him.

"Riku…" she said. Suddenly, she brought her hand across his face. He was able to avoid the brunt of it because his hood cushioned the blow, but the shock of it caused him to stumble back and fall to the floor. He stared up at Vanessa, wide-eyed with astonishment. In his eyes, Vanessa looked positively enraged. She clenched her fists until her knuckles paled. What she did next caused Riku's head to spin with confusion. She laughed. Riku did not know whether to be relieved or scared. Vanessa fell backwards in a fit of hysterics. When she was finished, she wiped tears from her eyes.

"That was so funny!" she exclaimed. "You mean to tell me that all this time, you didn't save me because you were _jealous_ of me?" Riku said nothing. "God dammit Riku, yeah I was having fun over there, but only because they made me feel welcome. What I didn't realize was that it was all a trick, but at the time, I couldn't care less either way. I honestly thought you just abandoned me. I wanted to mope about it, I really did, but what good would that had done? That deserved a slap Riku; how dare you blame me for trying to live my life?"

"I…" said Riku, trailing off. "Vanessa, I…" He could not find the words. Instead, he avoided her gaze.

"Are you sorry?" Vanessa asked. Riku flinched.

"Wh-What?" he asked.

"I asked if you're sorry." Vanessa repeated. Riku said nothing for a long while. He searched Vanessa's eyes for her intentions, but could not read them. "Come on Riku, it's not a trick question. Just be real with me; are you sorry or not?"

"Y-Yes…" he said finally. "…I am." Vanessa smiled.

"Well then, I forgive you." she said. Riku flinched.

"W-Wait, that's it?" he asked. "You forgive me? Just like that?" Vanessa nodded.

"That's all there is to it; no strings attached, no fine print, no nothing." she said.

"But, all the things I've…" Riku tried.

"Doesn't matter." said Vanessa, cutting him off. "All of that is behind us now."

"But Vanessa…"

"God Riku, you gotta learn to let shit go! You'll never be able to move towards the present if you keep hanging around the past. Unburden yourself Riku; I know you did some pretty messed up shit in the past, but it's the present now. Just forget it and move on. Forgive yourself Riku." Riku shook his head.

"I can't…" he said. "…I just can't. It's not that easy…" Vanessa placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Yes you can." she assured him. "You can do it, because I forgive you Riku. No matter what, I forgive you." She took one of his hands in her own. As soon as she did, her heart affixed swiftly and firmly to his. Riku looked at her; he too felt the connection. Vanessa stood to her feet and summoned her Keyblade. To her delight, it appeared in her hands, but to her surprise, it looked different than it did before. The base was a heart, half of which was black, and the other half white. The shaft and the handle was deep lavender, while the blade was a half of a large golden heart. The keychain was gold as well, and the charm was a red and yellow sun.

"_That's_ new." she mused. Riku stood to his feet as well.

"Your Keyblade reflects you as a person, and what is in your heart." Riku explained. "Forgiving me not only restored your heart's strength, but it also reflected who you truly are." Vanessa smiled and examined her new Keyblade.

"Well, if that's the case…" she said. "…then I do believe a christening is in order. I now dub thee, Saving Grace!" Riku smiled.

"Fitting name." he said. He smirked. "You came up with that on your own?" Vanessa furrowed her brows in confusion.

"Well duh." she said. "Of course I came up with that on my…" She stopped and scowled. "Oh _really_ Riku? That was freaking mean!" Riku laughed.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself." he admitted. Vanessa tried to frown, but ended up laughing as well.

"You suck Riku!" she said lightheartedly. "God knows I love you, but you are such a douche!" Riku stopped.

"You _love_ me?" he inquired. Vanessa stopped as well and blushed.

"Not _that_ way!" she exclaimed in embarrassment. She sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "I mean, not that I _don't_ love you, it's just that…" Riku laughed again.

"I'm just teasing you Vanessa." he said. Vanessa punched him in the ribs.

"Up yours!" she scowled. She poked him in the chest. "You're walking on shaky ground mister!" Riku grabbed her hand and pulled her in for a hug, causing her to gasp.

"Thank you…" he said. "…thank you so much." Vanessa smiled and returned the hug.

"Anytime Riku." she said. "What are friends for?"


	31. One Last Time

Author's Note: Two chapters left!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom hearts.

Chapter 31: One Last Time

"Finish your ice cream Roxas, before it melts." Olette instructed.

"Huh?" said Roxas as he snapped out of his thoughts. He looked at his half-melted treat. "Oh, right." He quickly ate it and licked it clean. "Oh? What's this?" He held out the leftover stick for his friends to see. The word 'Winner' was inscribed on the side. Hayner grinned.

"Way to go Roxas!" he said. "You can trade that in for a free bar, lucky you!" Roxas examined the stick. Suddenly, a memory flashed through his mind.

"_A gift for you."_

"_Huh? Me? No Vanessa, it's yours. You keep it."_

"_No really, I want you to have it. Keep it in memory of me."_ Roxas furrowed his brows.

"That girl from my dreams…" he said. "…is that her name? Vanessa?"

* * *

"I've been going to see Roxas." said Naminé out of the blue. Losing her concentration, Vanessa accidentally streaked a line of red paint* across her picture, thus ruining it.

"Dammit!" she swore. She grudgingly scrapped the painting. "What'd you say Naminé?"

"I said I've been seeing Roxas." she repeated. "I spoke to him twice." Vanessa turned around to face her.

"And you're allowed to do this?" she asked.

"I've been doing it in secret." said Naminé. "DiZ doesn't know about it."

"What do you talk about?" Vanessa asked.

"I've been dropping little hints to him." said Naminé. "It just doesn't feel right you know? Him being so close to losing his self, and not knowing a thing about it. I've been slipping him memories. Mostly of Sora. Some of you." Vanessa gasped.

"M-Me?" she stammered. "Why?" Naminé smiled.

"You're very special to him…" she said. "…and he's special to you. I didn't want him to completely forget that bond between you two." Vanessa folded her arms.

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked.

"I wanted to know…" said Naminé. "…if you're willing to see Roxas one last time before he disappears. It will happen tomorrow. I wanted a little more time, but the Organization has found us out. I can't wait any longer, and neither can you. If you want to see him, we must go now." Vanessa looked away and fidgeted with her fingers.

"I…I don't know…" she said indecisively. "I…I don't think I can…"

"You should go Vanessa." suggested Naminé. "I know it seems hard, but this will be the last full day of Roxas's existence. He wants to meet you, the girl who keeps appearing in his dreams." Vanessa blushed.

"He…dreams about me?" she asked. Naminé nodded. Vanessa thought it over for a while. Finally, she sighed.

"Ok…" she relented. "…I'll do it."

"Ok, follow me." said Naminé. She led Vanessa downstairs to the basement to DiZ's computer lab. He was not there at the moment. Naminé typed a few keystrokes into the computer. "Ok, get onto the decoder."

"The _what_?" asked Vanessa in confusion. Naminé smiled and pointed to the machine that was directly behind her. "Oh, ok." She stepped inside. "Is this gonna hurt?"

"You won't feel a thing." she assured. "Are you ready?" Vanessa nodded.

"Ready Freddy!" she said. Naminé pushed a key. Suddenly, a bright light glowed in the decoder machine. Vanessa watched in awe as her body was broken down into data. In no time at all, she was reassembled in Naminé's drawing room. Vanessa inspected herself to make sure she made it in one piece. When she was satisfied she was all there, she smiled.

"Kick ass!" she exclaimed. A second later, Naminé appeared beside her.

"Welcome to simulated Twilight Town." she said. Vanessa looked around.

"Everything looks exactly the same." she said.

"It's supposed to." said Naminé. "I'm not sure how much time we have before we get found out, so I'll summon Roxas right away."

"How are you gonna do that?" Vanessa asked curiously. Naminé smiled.

"By manipulating his memories of course." she said. She closed her eyes. After a few moments, she reopened them. "Ok, he should be here shortly."

"What should I say to him?" asked Vanessa. "How much does he remember?"

"He doesn't remember much…" said Naminé. "…but say to him whatever you feel like saying. Don't be afraid to confuse him; at this point, it doesn't matter anymore." Vanessa took a deep breath.

"Ok." she breathed. Her body trembled. She laughed. "Phew, I'm nervous!" Naminé offered a reassuring smile.

"Don't be." she said. "Just be yourself. Do whatever your heart tells you to do." Vanessa nodded.

"Whatever my heart tells me to do, got it." she said. The two girls waited there for several minutes before Roxas appeared at the front gate. Vanessa turned jittery.

"Oh god he's here!" she exclaimed. "Oh man, I'm not ready! Hide me!" She looked around the room for a hiding spot, but could find none, so she settled for under the table. Naminé sighed.

"Vanessa, you're being ridiculous." she said. Suddenly, the door opened to reveal Roxas. Naminé smiled at him.

"Hello again Roxas." she greeted.

"Um, hi." he said. "What is this place? Do you live here?" He noticed all the drawings on the walls. He spotted one that peaked his interest. "Axel."

"Yes. He was your best friend." said Naminé. Roxas and Naminé continued to converse for awhile after that. Vanessa held her breath as she tried her hardest not to make a sound.

"So I'm not real…?" mused Roxas. He shook his head. "How could you say that, even it were true?"

"I'm sorry." said Naminé. Roxas looked up and stared at another picture. It was one of Vanessa.

"Hey!" he exclaimed. "That's that girl! The one in my dreams."

"That's Vanessa." said Naminé. Under the table, the real Vanessa's body tensed up. "She was very special to you."

"Was she my best friend too?" asked Roxas.

"Yes." replied Naminé. "Perhaps something more."

"More?" said Roxas. He continued to stare at the picture. "I wish I could talk to her."

"You can." said Naminé. She looked downwards. Confused, Roxas followed her line of sight. He jumped when he spotted Vanessa scrunched up under the table.

"Hey!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing under there?" Vanessa reluctantly climbed out and stood to her feet. She slowly met Roxas's gaze, only to break away from it soon after. "Vanessa." She turned her back to him.

"I-I'm sorry…" she said. "…I can't do this." Naminé looked at her worriedly.

"Vanessa." said Roxas. He reached out to touch her shoulder. "I…I think I remember you." Vanessa turned back around.

"Roxas…" she said. She frowned. "…oh screw it!" She grabbed Roxas and embraced him tightly. He gasped. Though confused, he slowly returned the hug.

"I miss you Roxas…" said Vanessa. "…I really, really do." She pulled away and wiped the loose tears that formed in her eyes. She smiled. "I'm glad I got to see you one last time."

"Last time?" Roxas repeated. "You mean, we'll never see each other again?"

"You will." said Naminé. "But when you do, you won't be yourself. And neither will I."

"I don't understand…" said Roxas. "…what's gonna happen to me?"

"You'll…" said Naminé. She looked away. "…disappear." Roxas flinched.

"Disappear?" he exclaimed. He looked at Vanessa and grabbed her hand. "I'm finally starting to remember things, to remember you!" Vanessa gasped. "I can't disappear, not yet!"

"Roxas…" said Vanessa softly. She looked away. "…I…" Suddenly, before she could say anything else, a dark portal appeared behind her. A hand grabbed her arm and pulled her through. She went tumbling into the Darkness. A minute later, Riku appeared to her, and DiZ as well, Naminé in hand.

"You two are very troublesome girls!" he bellowed after they reappeared in the mansion's foyer. "What were you trying to prove?" Vanessa rolled her eyes.

"Take a chill pill old man!" she exclaimed. "I just wanted to see Roxas one last time; is that so wrong? Is the world gonna explode now? I highly doubt it!"

"Do not get cheeky with me!" DiZ commanded. Vanessa mashed her cheeks together into a silly face. DiZ flushed as Riku and Naminé struggled to contain their laughter. "How disrespectful!" Vanessa laughed.

"Take it easy DiZ!" she said. She folded her arms and frowned. "Tomorrow, Roxas'll be gone and your mission'll be complete as planned. Sora'll wake up, and I'll be out of your life for good, so cut me some slack will ya? I know you hate Nobodies, but I don't. I actually care for two of them, and one of them is about to disappear from my life forever. You don't have to understand, but stop making such a big deal about it. I don't know what happened in your life that makes you hate Nobodies so much, but whatever it was, let me be the first to apologize." DiZ furrowed his brows.

"And why are _you_ apologizing?" he asked curiously. Vanessa shrugged.

"I thought maybe it'd make you feel better." she said. She grabbed Naminé's hand. "Come on, let's go watch the sunset." She led Naminé upstairs towards the balcony. DiZ stood there in the foyer, mystified. For the life of him, with all his intellect, he could not figure out that girl. Riku chuckled.

"She's a strange one isn't she?" he asked. DiZ sighed.

"Strange indeed." he agreed.

"How do you think she figured it out?" Riku asked. DiZ shook his head.

"I suppose we give her too little credit." he admitted. "She may be anomalous and unruly, but she is highly observant. She would have made a valuable ally if she weren't so uncompromising in her ways." He smiled. "Perhaps that is what I admire about her the most." Riku nodded.

"She is who she is…" he said. "…and she may always be."

* * *

***AN: There goes that infamous red streak again!**


	32. The Setting of the Sun

Author's Note: Well guys, this is it! The last chapter! Yup, it's over! My wonderfully delicious story is now officially over. It's been a good run guys, I'm so happy you've been so faithful to me! Remember when I said I'd give you guys a treat way back when? Well, here it is: I'm giving a little insight on the sequel through the epilogue! Yayness! Which I am posting at the same time as this chapter. Double yayness! Thanks guys, peace!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.

Chapter 32: The Setting of the Sun

"_You're a lucky guy Sora. Looks like my summer vacation is over…"_

Vanessa gasped. She sadly bowed her head.

"He's gone…" she said. "…I can feel it." Riku gently rubbed her back.

"I'm sorry." he said. "It was for the best." Vanessa sniffed back her tears and nodded.

"Yeah…" she agreed. "…I think it was. I just wish I could've said good bye. Not only to him, but to Naminé. Where'd she go? I woke up and she wasn't there."

"She went her separate way." said Riku. "She told me to tell you that she'd see you soon, but that you might not recognize her." Vanessa furrowed her brows.

"Huh?" she said. She shook her head. "She always does that, talk in cryptics…" Riku chuckled. "And DiZ?"

"Gone too." Riku revealed. Vanessa sighed.

"Figures…" she muttered. "…and you, where will you go?"

"Not sure, but wherever I go, I was hoping I could take you with me." said Riku. Vanessa gasped.

"Really?" she asked. "But why?"

"I can't talk to you if you're not there." Riku teased. Vanessa smiled, and then frowned.

"Naminé told me that Sora could take me home." she said. "Back to my world."

"Oh…" said Riku, obviously disheartened. "…of course." Vanessa smiled and playfully punched him the shoulder.

"But I guess sticking around for a few won't hurt me none." she said. Riku smiled underneath his hood.

"I don't mean to be so clingy…" he said. "…I'm just used to company now. Being in the Darkness can get pretty lonely." Vanessa nodded.

"I can relate." she said. "Before we go, where ever we go, can I at least meet Sora?" Riku nodded.

"Sure." he said. "You'd like him, he's a great guy. He's a lot like you actually." Vanessa smirked.

"First I'm like Kairi, now I'm like Sora, which one is it?" she asked in a tone of mock-exasperation.

"Both." said Riku. "That's why I like you so much." Vanessa smiled.

"You're too kind!" she joked. She tugged at Riku's hood. "Are you ever gonna take that off?" Riku shook his head.

"I don't want to scare you." he said. Vanessa folded her arms.

"What, are you the grim reaper?" she asked.

"What?" said Riku. "No."

"Then what's so scary about you, the fact that you resemble the Superi…Xemnas? Weird, I admit, but _scary_? Actually, Xemnas ain't really all that bad to look at if y'know what I'm saying."

"You're so weird…"

"But you already knew that. So why _do_ you look so much like him? Wait, I got it! He's really your father!"

"No way! You couldn't be more wrong if you tried!"

"Well damn, I thought I was right too…"

"Sora's here." Vanessa looked down from her spot on top of the clock tower. Sure enough, Sora was there, along with his two companions she came to know as Donald and Goofy.

"Ok, wish me luck!" said Vanessa. She made her way down the clock tower. When she arrived at the bottom, she boldly approached Sora.

"Sora!" she called. Sora looked up to acknowledge her.

"Hey." he greeted back. He folded his arms. "Have we met? You look kinda familiar. You _sound_ familiar too."

"You know her Sora?" asked Goofy.

"Doesn't look familiar to me!" exclaimed Donald. Vanessa smiled.

"I'm Vanessa." she introduced. "Nessa for short." Sora faltered.

"Vanessa!" he exclaimed. "I think I remember you! I heard your voice once!" He looked down. "I _think_…" Vanessa laughed.

"Just like Roxas." she thought. She said aloud, "Don't have an aneurism; we haven't met yet. I've been waiting to meet you for so long though."

"Huh?" said Sora. "Who are you?" Vanessa smiled.

"A friend of a friend." she said.

"You know the king?" asked Donald. Vanessa shook her head.

"No." she said.

"Then which friend are you a friend of?" asked Goofy. Vanessa brought a finger to her lips and winked.

"Secret!" she whispered teasingly.

"Aww, that's not fair!" Sora complained. Vanessa laughed.

"I'll give you a hint, it starts with an 'R'." she said. Donald folded his arms and tapped his foot pensively.

"Who do we know that starts with the letter 'R'?" he wondered. All three of them huddled together to think. Suddenly, they came to a realization.

"Riku!" they cried unanimously. Sora grinned.

"Riku! You know Ri…ku…?" he said, but Vanessa was no where in sight. "Huh?" He looked around. "Where'd she go?"

"That girl sure was strange…" mused Donald. Sora nodded.

"Yeah." he agreed. "But she claimed to know Riku."

"Gwarsh Sora, I don't think she said _that_." said Goofy. "She only said that the name started with an 'R'. That could mean _anybody_!"

"No no no! It _has_ to be Riku!" countered Donald. "Who else could it be? How many people do we know whose name begins with 'R'?" Goofy and Sora thought for a moment.

"Gwarsh Donald, I guess you're right." Goofy admitted. Sora smiled.

"Then if that's true, then maybe she knows where Riku is!" he said excitedly. "What was her name? Vanessa?"

"I think so." said Donald. "But where'd she run off to?" Sora looked around, but could not find her. He bent over and sighed.

"That figures…" he said glumly. "…she ran away." Meanwhile, atop the clock tower, Vanessa looked down upon Sora and his troupe.

"Maybe I shouldn't have said all of that." she said. "Sorry. I couldn't come up with a more puzzling thing to say." Riku chuckled.

"That's ok." he said. "It doesn't matter."

"He's a nice kid." said Vanessa. "None too bright, but nice." She smiled. "Reminds me a whole lot of Roxas. Naminé was right…" She looked off into the sunset. "Hey Riku?"

"Yes Vanessa?" he replied.

"I can't wait to go on an adventure with you." she said. "It'll be great, I can feel it. And in the end, we can all be together: You, me, Sora, and Kairi. I want to meet Kairi, and I want to hang out with Sora. And most importantly…" She smiled at Riku. "…I wanna hear super embarrassing stories about your childhood from your friends!" He flinched.

"Vanessa!" he exclaimed. She laughed.

"Wasn't expecting that was you?" she teased. She leaned against his chest. "I was just fooling with ya Riku." He sighed and stroked her head.

"You're so weird…" he complained. "…but I guess that's why I like you." Vanessa smiled.

"But in the end…" she said. "…I want to know that you're ok."

"What do you mean?" asked Riku. Vanessa took his hand in her own.

"I mean, I won't rest until that weight is lifted off your shoulders." she said. "I know you still feel burdened by your past, so I'm gonna take it upon myself to help lighten that load. When you fall, I'm gonna be there to pick you back up. When you cry, I'll wipe the tears away. And if you're gonna crucify yourself in the end, and there's nothing I can do to stop you, I'll be the one to wipe the sweat off your brow."

"Thanks Vanessa…" said Riku. "…I appreciate that. I really do." Vanessa smirked.

"You'd _better_." she threatened jokingly. "Taking care of your brooding behind is a full time job!" Riku laughed.

"I promise I'll pay you back." he said.

"No need." said Vanessa. "Long as you're ok, that's payment enough." She snuggled into Riku. "Besides, what are friends for?" She admired the red sun as it melted into the horizon, contemplating adventures to come.


	33. Epilogue: A New Member?

Epilogue: A New Member?

The remaining members of Organization XIII waited impatiently for the Superior to reveal himself. It has been one week since the defection of Roxas and Vanessa's escape. Surely, at least in the eyes of most members, it dealt a major blow to the Organization's goals. According to Xemnas, however, everything was going according to plan. Today, he was to unveil to his subordinates the next step. Only Xigbar and Saïx had an inkling of what was going on. Everyone else was in the dark and was eager to have light shed on the Superior's "project", so he called it.

"Aww man, I've been sitting here for so long, my butt's getting sore!" Demyx complained. Axel smirked.

"Really? I thought you'd be used to it by now." he sneered. Demyx's face flushed; he said nothing more of the matter. Axel's smirk turned into a frown. Demyx was right; they had been waiting for a long time, almost half an hour.

"What could possibly be taking them _this_ long?" he thought to himself. He sighed. Two days has passed since the last time he saw his friend. Deep down inside, somewhere, he knew the truth: Roxas was gone and would never return. Also somewhere deep inside, he knew another truth: It was all Vanessa's fault. Whether or not that was the _real_ truth, it was _his_ truth, one he would stick to, one he grew his hatred on.

"Hey Number VIII, turn that frown upside down!" teased Xigbar. "You look like someone killed your dog!" Axel refused to entertain the notion. Fortunately for him, he did not have to for at that precise moment, Xemnas and Saïx finally appeared.

"It's about time!" said Xigbar.

"I apologize for the wait." said Xemnas. "There were last minute preparations that needed to be made."

"So what's this whole thing about Superior, if I may be so bold?" asked Luxord. Xemnas smirked.

"I know that you have been apprehensive about the disappearences of Number XIII and Vanessa..." he said. "...but what I'm to reveal today is the solution to our problems. I have been working on a replacement, a replica Keyblade wielder using Number IV's techniques."

"A replica Keyblade wielder?" Xaldin repeated. "A clone?"

"Not just a clone…" said Xemnas. "…a powerful copy of the combined information from both Sora and Vanessa." Collective gasps and murmurs rose from the members.

"Wait, so this thing is a clone of both Vanessa _and _Sora?" exclaimed Demyx. He whistled. "That's crazy!"

"And this was actually successful?" piped in Luxord.

"Very much so." replied Xemnas. In fact, she is with us at this very moment." Axel furrowed his brows.

"_She_?" he said skeptically. Xemnas pointed towards his left.

"Behold." he said. "Number Zero." At his command, a petite figure ambled onto the floor. She was the same height as Roxas, perhaps slightly taller. That was all that could be told about her, for her face was hidden underneath the shadow of her hood. More murmurs rose to the surface. Number Zero removed her hood and blinked to get used to the light. Axel stared at her. As she scanned the other members, her eyes fell on him. He smirked mischeviously as she did so.

"This will be interesting." he thought as the new member averted his gaze.

* * *

**AN: Annnnd, that's a wrap! Remember to check out the inevitable sequel, Another Side, Another Story: Nightfall, coming to a site near you May 2010! Or earlier, depending on my mood.**


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